


The Hour of Twilight

by JadeHawk0920



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Concussions, Flashbacks, He was way scarier that way, I'm Bad At Summaries, Identity Reveal, Legend’s foul mouth, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Seizures, Slow Build, Twilight (Linked Universe)-centric, Whump, Wind being a gremlin, Wolf Link (Legend of Zelda), Wolf Twilight (Linked Universe), Zant will act like he does with his mask on, cuz let’s be honest, idk how to tag, no beta we die like men...? I guess...?, the angsty ‘twilight is outed as wolfie in the worst way possible’ fic that no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28811553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeHawk0920/pseuds/JadeHawk0920
Summary: An intense fight with an unexpected enemy sends the Links tumbling into a world steeped in darkness. Twilight must face his own long-ignored demons as he is forced back to his own village of Ordon, only to find it beset by threats long thought to be locked away and unable to harm anyone again. The story of his first journey to save Hyrule slowly begins to come to light as the Heroes work to protect the village, though the story seems to only raise more questions than answers. It is in the struggle against the infected monsters, in finding trust in one another, and in seeking out the shadowy figure looming over it all as a macabre puppet master, that true courage can be found. And it is a race against time to rescue all of Hyrule from being plunged into twilight once again.
Comments: 85
Kudos: 162





	1. Lingering Regrets

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for all of the comments and Kudos! I hadn't had anyone read all the way through this before posting it, and wasn't really sure if it was coherent or nah. But y'all seemed to really like it, which is giving me a lot more motivation to keep working on it! I am plugging away at it right now, fueled by the power of narcissism, yay! In all seriousness though, I do appreciate it. The next chapter is on the way, and will be posted ASAP! <3

After all of the battles, hardships, and monsters he had faced before, Twilight had thought that there wasn’t much left to make him freeze up. He’d faced down blizzard monsters, giant parasites, living fossils, and even a Twilit Dragon. Given the circumstances he’d been under in the past, Twilight considered himself cool under pressure.

But this was no dragon. Somehow, this was worse.

Four’s Hyrule was beautiful. Hyrule town was bustling with activity. It reminded him of his own Hyrule Castle Town, but brighter and more cheerful. Of course, there was also no huge crisis or general tension of poverty or lack of protection hanging over everyone’s heads, so it was probably easier to be a bit carefree. The group had spent a good amount of time in that town, restocking their supplies and enjoying the lighthearted atmosphere while they still could. But eventually, inevitably, they had to resume their journey, searching for the reason why Hylia, or whoever else was directing them, sent them to this place.

There were minor skirmishes between them and the local monsters and menaces, but nothing of note. As Four lead them through the land, occasionally stopping, weirdly to inspect a tree stump or cracked boulder; everyone couldn’t help but sense the general air of aimlessness. They had no idea where to go or who to talk to. All they could do was wander, taking out whatever rogue threats that they happened to run into. Twilight even found himself laying on his bedroll one night practically begging for something, anything at all, to happen.

A wish he would quickly come to regret.

It would happen soon after they began their travel the next day, seemingly like any of the other previous mornings. Everything would seem peaceful, almost tranquil. Warriors would be laughing at one of Wind’s many tall tales. Legend and Wild would be bickering between themselves over sword technique, with Hyrule trying his best to keep the peace. Time would be near the front with Four, talking about where they should head next, with Four giving him a rundown of the landscape. Sky and Twilight would be at the back of the group. No conversation, just enjoying each other’s silent company. Like any other day traveling through the woods.

So when a long, charcoal black arm shot out from the shadows of the bushes to wrap itself tightly around Sky’s head and neck, one could see how Twilight could have been a bit caught off guard. A cry of alarm did manage to leave both his and Sky’s lips, alerting their companions of the danger, but Twilight’s died almost as quickly as it had started when the rest of the creature emerged from the underbrush.

_It couldn’t be._

_He’d defeated them._

_The mirror was shattered._

_They couldn’t be here._

_He’d sacrificed too much._

_They couldn’t invade another land._

_Never again._

And yet, there it stood. The muscular, smoke colored body of a Shadow Beast, looming over him once more, holding his friend aloft by the head, Sky’s legs peddling the air as it did so.

He could hear the faint, distant sounds of the other heroes’ battle cries and the scraping of metal on metal as they drew their various weapons in their charges. But it was all muted and far away. Twilight wasn’t there anymore. All he could truly hear was her unfinished sentence. The shattering of a mirror. And the suffocating silence that followed, choking him of his air. Cut off as it was the first trip into the twilight, himself held in the fist of a different Shadow Beast, struggling to breathe. Even as the beast inexplicably threw him aside, the oppressive haze of the twilight that filled his senses seemed to strangle him, the nausea hitting him like a punch in the gut. Distantly Twilight wondered about that blow, whether it had happened in the past or just now. The pain felt so recent… But the thought quickly faded to the back of the turmoil of his mind. Quickly overshadowed by a dying Twili on his back as he rushed through Castle Town, screams of terror emitting from the civilians that surrounded him. Zelda fading away before his very eyes. Colin, tied to a post on a Bullbos like a trophy, as Twilight and King Bulblin did battle on the Bridge of Eldin. Ilia struggling to remember anything about her past. Beth, Malo, and Talo huddled around Renado in fear of the monsters that could come after them.

All of the loss, fear, and sacrifices that were made in order to shatter that mirror. Twilight felt like he was falling. He felt his body go limp as that horrible thought crept its way into his mind.

Was it all for nothing?

_SMACK!_

A sharp stinging exploded on the side of Twilights face as Legend drew back his hand again. Twilight quickly blocked the second incoming blow as he blinked away the memories. His other hand went to his gut, which actually was still incredibly sore, and it was about then that he realized he was sprawled out on the ground.

“Hey!” Legend shook his shoulder as he regained Twilight’s attention. “Snap out of it farm boy! What are these things? No one else recognizes them, and you went fucking comatose for a good second when you saw them!” He grabbed Twilight’s arm and hauled him to his feet, none too gently. “What the hell do we do rancher? There were only a few at first, but then more dropped from the sky! They just won’t stay down!”

Glancing around, Twilight felt his stomach drop further. The greatest number of Shadow Beasts he had ever taken down at a time was five. And that had been a rough fight. As he still shook off the terrifying implications, which wouldn’t be giving him peace any time soon, Twilight counted six of these beasts now, slowly wearing down his companions in a desperate fight. 

Four and Wind were back-to-back, each blocking blows from a different creature with their shields. Wind had a deep gash on his upper right arm, and Four had blood running down his temple. Warriors was squaring off with a larger one, hacking away with reckless abandon, doing his best to ignore the large furrows cut into his chest by a massive claw. Hyrule was limping back from an advancing beast, flames scorching its mask as he slashed his sword at it. Sky stumbled back as one lashed out at him, but a giant blade flashed through the air in time to cleave a few of the darkened tendrils from the rest of the massive head of the Twilit monster. Time’s face was set with determination as he hefted his Biggoron sword up again, moving up next to Sky. Wild was on the outskirts of the fight, bow drawn, raining arrows on any of the beasts that tried to lumber toward him. Judging by the monster’s corpse riddled with shafts to his right, Wild must have been having at least a modicum of success. But for how long it would last, Twilight couldn’t be sure.

Drawing his own sword, Twilight charged forward to Hyrule’s defense, shouting as he went. “They have to be taken down together! If one is left standing, it’ll revive the others!” As Legend rushed to Warrior’s aid, Twilight brought his shield up to block an incoming blow. He felt his eyes briefly slide closed as he let his instincts and old habits take over. The creature brought its arms up to slam them down onto his head; but just before it made contact, Twilight let the tensed muscles in his legs release, throwing himself to its unprotected side. Muscle memory reminded him to tuck his head in before going into a roll, allowing him to spring up, slashing at its exposed back with an explosive spinning attack. The beast roared in fury, whirling around to face him, its previous opponent completely forgotten.

Black blood dripped slowly off of Twilight’s blade as he raised his shield yet again. The twilit monster lunged yet again, rather predictably. Twilight almost smirked as he bashed its giant mask with his shield, sending it reeling. His legs practically moved without him telling them to, bounding over the flailing creature into a flip, striking a brutal slash to its head and neck as he went. Landing on the other side, he looked back at the beast, wounded but still standing, but then looked up to see Hyrule readying his own attack. Twilight leapt to the side with a grin as a fiery inferno burst from Hyrule’s blade and consumed the creature, its death rattle being drowned out by the cacophonous sounds of the surrounding battle.

Glancing around, breathing hard, Twilight saw more corpses on the ground than before. Legend and Warriors were working in tandem, one striking the beast they were up against when the other had exposed a weak point, eventually causing the creature to stumble to the ground and expire with a weak hiss of fury. Sky cleaved a leg from one with a triumphant cry, allowing Time to wind up a massive swing of his sword. The head of the Shadow Beast hit the ground a few seconds before the rest of it did, falling like a puppet with its strings cut.

Twilight stood to help take the remaining ones out, but gasped as he saw Wind go for a blow on one of the remaining two. “Wait!” He shouted hoarsely across the clearing. But it was too late. The Phantom Blade stabbed deeply into the gut of the creature. Twilight could hear the screech of death as it fell, but his eyes were on the remaining one. Instinctually, his hands came up to cover his ears for the incoming wail, and Twilight braced, hoping it was enough to not have his hearing be completely shot for a while.

But nothing happened.

The beast lashed out at Four again, who shoved it back with its shield then leapt back to regroup. “It’s not doing anything, Twi.” Four observed. “You sure that’s how they work?” Twilight blinked in confusion. “Yes, I’m sure Four. I’ve fought enough of them to know.”

Legend rolled his eyes as they all collectively kept their distance from this slowly advancing monster. “Well, something’s different. Why wouldn’t it revive them?”

“I don’t know!” Twilight hissed, “The only thing I can think of is-” He stopped as his blood ran cold. “…if that’s not the last one.”

The snap of a branch made Twilight whirl around just in time to see a remaining Shadow Beast step out from the foliage.

Right behind Wild.

Before he could even open his mouth to shout a warning, the creature had its hand gripped tightly onto Wild’s left shoulder. Like a rag doll, it yanked him into the air, completely caught off guard. Wild’s name had only just passed Twilight’s lips as the beast swiveled and slammed the boy back to the ground, putting its entire strength and weight onto his shoulder, which it still had tightly in its grip. Everyone in the clearing could hear the horrible crunching sound it made before Wild’s scream of agony echoed through the forest.

Blind fury made Twilight rush the Shadow Beast, which in retrospect, was a pretty apt name for it. At first, he didn’t even think to dodge the giant fist as it rushed toward him. And when he finally did realize, all he could do was twist himself for it only to hit him in the side. Seeing stars from the pain, Twilight slashed wildly with his sword at the outstretched arm, and felt a rush of surprised excitement when he felt his blade actually find purchase. It all quickly abandoned him, however, when the arm that the blade was now stuck in drew him closer to its gargantuan mask, cocking its head to one side. Its fist connected with him square in the chest, ripping the sword from his grasp, and sending him sprawling away from the fight.

Blearily, Twilight turned to see Four, Legend, and Wind squaring off against the other beast, trying to communicate their strikes with Time, Warriors, and Sky. Hyrule was crouched next to Wild, seemingly trying to assess the damage mid fight. 

As Twilight struggled to his feet, looking around for his blade, a strange feeling beginning to form in his gut gave him pause. It wasn’t painful. More like a gentle pressure, pulling him in a direction, in this case to his right. He glanced around at the other Heroes, seeing them all hesitating as well, but was surprised to see the beasts doing the same, freezing for a moment as the strange sensation seemingly affected them as well. It was an increasingly familiar feeling to the Links, though they hadn’t felt it in a long while. And definitely never in the middle of the fight. 

Dread creeped into Twilight’s mind as he turned to see a familiar, large, onyx-colored archway with violet runic symbols lining the edges. A portal. The creatures turned to look at each other in that moment of uncertainty following the portal’s appearance. With a short, screeching cry, both of them darted forward at blinding speed. 

Twilight twisted around onto his hands and knees. His sword lay discarded on the ground a few yards away, covered in gore. Clambering to get to it while still recovering from the blows he had sustained, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as his fingers closed around the handle. However, when he swiveled back around to face the creatures, a cry of panicked warning suddenly ripped itself from him.

A low creaking sound was echoing through the clearing as one of the Shadow Beasts had wrapped its claws around a nearby tree. It’s muscles rippled as the tree was wrenched right out of the ground, roots snapping and spraying dirt everywhere. Pivoting back around to face the group of heroes advancing on it, it raised the large trunk over its head and hurled it with brutal ferocity. 

As the giant log hurtled through the air, almost in slow motion, Twilight felt the confusion beginning to grow in his mind. Shadow beasts weren’t intelligent creatures. They didn’t use tactics like this. They only ever attacked with their claws, not the environment around them. The questions rolling around in his head, Twilight watched as both Four and Wind were both caught in the chest with the projectile. A few grunts of pain and a cloud of dust later, and the smallest two of his companions were pinned to the ground, unable to lift the giant trunk. 

But what turned Twilight’s attention away was a cry of pain from across the clearing. He felt his heart leap up to his throat as he saw Wild, his protege, his _friend_ , crying out in frustration and agony. His left arm was dragging uselessly on the ground as the remaining beast had him in its grip by the scruff of the neck, _pulling him toward the portal._

“Hey!” Twilight yelled, scrambling back to his feet. “Get back here! Let him go! Wild!” 

The Shadow Beast paid him no mind, quickly skittering over to the doorway. Twilight staggered forward, cursing his legs for not moving fast enough, when a green blur dashed past him. The gleam of the Blade of Evil’s Bane blocked the path of the creature, with Sky standing his ground between it and the portal. The Master Sword seemed to sing through the air as Sky wielded it with practiced skill and grace, forcing the creature back. Wild could be heard cursing from the pain, scrambling to try to stay out of Sky’s way while only having one working arm and being caught in the choking grip of the creature. But the creature was on the defensive, being herded back to the clearing. However, as Twilight stumbled over to head it off in its retreat, a horrible *thunk* echoed through the clearing.

As Sky crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, the other creature dropped a large rock, now stained with dull crimson. The Shadow Beasts turned to one another, almost as if to give a nod of acknowledgement, after which the second one scooped up Sky by the ankle and began dragging the unconscious hero to the open maw of the portal.

“Twilight! Warriors! After them!” Time bellowed. He glanced over at Hyrule and Legend, each cracking their knuckles, their Power Bracelets flashing with energy. “We’ll take care of this.”

Twilight gritted his teeth, gave a nod to Warriors, and looked back just in time to see the last of Sky’s form disappear into the inky blackness of the foreboding archway. 

Twilight stepped forward, moving to rush after his friends, but before he could, a small sound caught his ear. A musical chiming, coming from his right. Glancing over, he saw no source of the sound, but looking down revealed the Master Sword, lying on the ground, with Sky’s strong grip on it lost to unconsciousness. As Warriors charged toward the portal, Twilight found himself sheathing his own blade and picking the Master Sword up from the dirt. Jaw set with determination, Twilight let his feet carry him across the clearing, through the mysterious gateway, charging into darkness and the unknown. 


	2. Pervading Loneliness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wild's struggle for survival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter, but more is on the way! Thanks again for your support! Like i've said before, I haven't touched writing stories for literal years. But this is so much more motivating for me, so thank you! I'll do my best to keep chugging away and updating semi-regularly! Fingers crossed! Oh, and I might have been a bit mean to Wild. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Sorry.

The horrible nausea that generally accompanies traveling across time almost was enough to distract Wild from the exploding pain in his shoulder. Any attempts to move it only doubled the pain briefly before coming down again to a sustained ache. Of course, it didn’t help that the limb was being roughly dragged across the ground, with no way for him to stop it. 

His tunic was drawn tight around his neck as the giant hand was clenched around the fabric, yanking him along with a few strands of his hair tangled in its fingers. The pain and lack of oxygen making the world spin around him, Wild felt his right arm involuntarily flailing around, trying to grip onto anything that could stabilize him. His fingernails even dug painfully into the hard dirt as it raced past. 

Suddenly, the hand gripping him tugged even harder, and then there was no ground to grab at. There was no spinning. Wild almost felt weightless. He blinked a few times in confusion, looking up only to see the ground rocketing toward him. Landing was rough, having only one arm to brace himself. A few agonizing somersaults later and Wild felt the back of his head slamming into the rough bark of a tree. An ear splitting ringing sound seemed to drill into his temples, making his dizziness worse than ever, and forcing him to keep his eyes tight shut. But a few moments of silence later, and the uncertainty and temptation got the better of him. 

Cracking one eye open revealed a blur of bright lights and colors. Muted greens, browns, and grays dominated most of his vision, with an overhead light pouring down on everything, practically blinding Wild for a moment. He did see a few darker blobs that seemed to be moving a little ways away from him, but Wild soon discovered that squinting to try to make them out didn’t help much. It only seemed to help increase his growing headache. At this point, trying to stay upright with only one properly functioning arm was becoming more and more difficult the longer he tried. Wild was leaning on the tree as much as he could in order to not completely keel over, but his grip kept faltering every few seconds, his arm trembling with the effort. Darkness was starting to creep into the edges of his perception, with the warm embrace of unconsciousness becoming more and more inviting. 

Suddenly, movement in the corner of his eye caught Wild’s attention. Briefly shaking his head in another attempt to clear his vision again, he looked up to see those same grayish blobs moving around more. And while his ears were still filled with that whining ringing sound, Wild could have sworn he heard an echoing groaning coming from their direction. 

Slowly, the world around him seemed to sharpen slightly. Details became more distinct. The blurs of color coalesced into two large lumbering forms, with one of them holding a smaller shape on the ground. 

The groaning, clicking sounds from before continued on, almost like a back and forth. A conversation? One of the creatures seemed to almost jerk away from the other. In fear, maybe? Or possibly a shove? Wild couldn’t tell. But his attention began to be drawn to the smaller shape he had seen before. It hadn’t moved the entire time, and for some reason that filled Wild’s stomach with a chilling fear. 

Suddenly, without warning, the smaller form was gone. Wild blinked. Shaking his head slowly, he glanced around in confusion. It was nowhere to be seen, and the unease in Wild’s stomach began to increase to panic. It was at this point that he noticed a shadow fall over him. 

There was a new shape above him. Bigger than that smaller form from before. And getting bigger. Why is it-

_ WHAM! _

All of the air left Wild’s lungs and his vision whited out with pain as a heavy, limp form landed on him, causing him to crack his head again on the tree behind him. His shoulder was pulsing with agony as he soon realized the body was partially laying on it, renewing his suffering for every second it stayed there. 

Wild couldn’t hold back a cry of pain as his other arm shakily began to shove the excruciating weight off of him. The movement seemed to send wave after wave of anguish through him, causing his vision to blur and sharpen rapidly. Sky’s face seemed to appear and fade away in Wild’s lap as he worked to get what he now realized to be the Skyloftian’s leg off of his shoulder. With one final push, the limb fell to the ground with a dull thud. The pain had started to lower back to its normal throbbing, and Wild shut his eyes tightly to try to ignore how fucked his eyesight was. 

His hand now could feel the shape of his injured shoulder, and Wild felt the nausea building up as he realized what was wrong. He could feel the bone, not broken, but dislocated, grinding up against each other, which only made his stomach churn more. 

“Deep breaths,” he muttered to himself, “you know how to do this.” Fumbling for one of his belts and biting down hard, he started reaching for his wrist. Wild hissed in pain as he gripped it tightly, bracing himself for what was to come. His breaths were unsteady and halting as he tried to calm himself. He had done this before. It was fine. He could do it. Wild’s heart hammered in his chest as he readjusted his grip. One deep breath in and Wild pulled. 

It may come as a surprise to some, but Wild learned at that moment that it is, in fact, possible to choke on air. He felt his chest convulsing as he struggled to get a breath. The pain washed over him, burning at his entire clavicle like it was being held under a blowtorch. His arm shaking with the effort, teeth digging into the thick leather belt, Wild almost fainted when he heard a tiny * _ pop* _ . 

Releasing his grip, Wild slumped almost bonelessly back against the tree, riding out the rest of the pain inflicted by his amateur first aid. An experimental wiggling of a few fingers told him that he had been successful. At least for the most part. Wild breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes slid open. But rather than being greeted with the same dull green forest around him, he found his view blocked by a large charcoal grey figure.

An iron grip clamped down around his neck, immediately cutting off his oxygen. Wild’s hand unconsciously moved to cling to the fist that held him, scrabbling uselessly at its tough skin. The giant mask loomed over him as the creature lifted him into the air, feet dangling helplessly. His vision, briefly cleared, had begun to darken at the edges once again, however this time, Wild felt like he probably wouldn’t be having much of a choice as to whether it would claim him or not. His thoughts seemed to almost slow down as he struggled in this creature’s grasp. The giant hand seemed to tighten. It was going to kill him. He was going to die again, failing to protect his friends once more. He would die, Sky would die, and the others may never find their bodies. Just like the Champions…

An idea struck him like a lightning bolt. He hadn’t tried it since he’d defeated Ganon. He wasn’t even sure he could still do it. But hell, if now wasn’t a good time, Wild wasn’t sure what was. There was the matter of his other arm though, which did add to his panic as he felt his lungs screaming for air. Gritting his teeth, he felt his left arm twitch. A twinge of pain, but manageable. Slowly, he began to raise it, the pain almost sharpening his senses while the lack of oxygen sought to dull them. His arm now was lifted to be almost level with his shoulder, shaking from the effort. The burning he felt when his hand closed into a fist seemed to wake him up, like a bucket of cold water. Wild let out a strangled scream as his right hand, which had been clenched down on the arm of the Shadow Beast, released its grip. The beast seemed to cock its head to the side in confusion at his actions, before Wild slammed his fists together in front of him.

For a horrible second, nothing seemed to happen. Wild felt his stomach sink. 

Then suddenly, a red-amber colored prism of energy erupted from Wild’s form. The Shadow Beast was forced to relinquish its grip on the boy, sending it stumbling back, and Wild tumbling to the ground. The shield broke as he hit the dirt, gasping air into his lungs. His throat burned from being crumpled for so long, but it was open. Adrenaline pumping through him, Wild jerked his head up, fully taking stock of his surroundings for the first time. 

They were in a small clearing in a forest. No other creatures that he could see. No portal, no friends. None except for Sky, who was crumpled on the ground a few feet away by the roots of a large tree. And only an arms length away from him was the second of the two Shadow Beasts. Time seemed to slow as it reached for him once again. With a hoarse cry, Wild sprang from his landing place. His sword was gone, and there was no time to flip through his sheikah slate. Ignoring the burning of his shoulder, Wild brought his hands up once again. Standing over Sky, his fists smashed together, summoning Daruk’s Protection once again, this time over both of them. 

The creature threw itself at the barrier only to be successfully repelled by the great goron’s gift. However, Wild felt the impact’s toll on the barrier. Sweat began to drip down his neck as he held his stance, fists connected, while standing over Sky’s unconscious form. The first creature threw itself next, quickly followed again by the second. The creatures began to beat mercilessly against the barrier. Wild gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut, and focusing all his energy into maintaining the shield. He could feel the cracks beginning to spider over its crystal-like surface. The now boiling pain in his arm caused his hands to tremble as his defense was pushed to the brink of shattering. 

Tears began to well in the corners of his eyes as Wild opened them to look down at Sky. The boy seemed to be stirring. Breathing heavily, Wild watched as the Skyloftian’s eyes cracked open, squinting at the light. As another blow shook his barrier, Wild took a shaky breath. A crooked smile found its way onto his face as he looked at his friend. Well at least he did try his best. Maybe Sky could get away while they were distracted beating Wild to death. He let out a resigned sigh as the crystal shattered to pieces. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

His legs dropped out beneath him as the creatures advanced. His knees hit the ground as one of them raised a claw. He began to fall forward as a shrieking cry echoed through the clearing. And his face hit the dirt as a strange squelching sound silenced it. Lazily, Wild looked up to see the glint of a sword sticking out of the creature’s chest. The blade disappeared, pulled out again as the beast fell to the ground itself. The darkness at the edges of his vision creeped closer as a figure stood there, brandishing their sword and shield. But before they could move forward, a bellowing shriek reverberated around the clearing. 

Wild’s hands jerked themselves up to his ears as the cry echoed in his brain cavity. He could feel his skull painfully vibrating, seemingly without cease. The darkness seemed to take this as its queue, swooping in to consume him, throwing him to the warm, velvety embrace of unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh right it ended on a cliffhanger again. Forgot to mention that.


	3. Strange Sadness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescue arrives! And everything totally goes smoothly. No problems occur at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another! Yes. I was mean to Wild. I'd say I'm sorry... but then y'all would call me a liar when I post the next chapter. Angst aside, I already said this before, but I'm still super grateful for all the positive feedback. Its kinda crazy to see that something I've made has been viewed over 300 times. I can tell y'all with confidence that that is not something that has happened to me before. I'm having fun with this, and am looking forward to making this like, a full story. Not just a few chapters. I have absolutely no idea how long this will end up being, but I guess that's part of the fun isn't it? All I know is that I'm only just getting started! Hope y'all enjoy! 
> 
> (Oh and just so's y'all know, I am going off of the map from Twilight Princess, but have lengthened the distances between certain places. Cuz... plot. I guess. idk I wanna. Also also, I am going off of the HD/GameCube version, since that map isn't mirrored like the one for the Wii is. (Which is also the one I grew up playing, so it was super weird for me to discover that wasn't the correct map. My whole life was a lie for a second when I realized that after searching 'Twilight Princess Map', and then seeing the chaos.))

At first, Twilight couldn’t even see Wild. All he saw as he and Warriors charged into the clearing was the looming forms of the two Shadow Beasts beating against something out of his view with all their strength.

Racing forward, brandishing the Master Sword, Twilight leaped in the air and brought down his blade on the back of one of the creatures. It stumbled back with a screech, revealing the creatures’ prey. 

A crimson crystal-like shield surrounded Wild as he stood over Sky’s unmoving form on the ground. Blood and sweat mingled together as they sluggishly dripped down his temple. His hands formed into tight fists that shook as he held them pressed together. Twilight could see the fatigue and agony practically rolling off of his Cub in waves. Wild’s eyes were barely open, the pupils unfocused and exhausted. As he moved between the creature he had wounded and Wild, the other brought its fist down on the shield once more. A horrible splintering sound emanated from the magical aura as the fractures that already covered it spread even further. 

Warriors suddenly appeared at Twilight’s side, bringing his shield up to block the incoming blow from the other creature as it sought to take advantage of his hesitation. Leaping away, Twilight readjusted his grip on the Blade of Evil’s Bane. 

“Get Wild out of there!” Warriors bellowed! “This one’s mine!”

As he raised his sword to the sky, Twilight could have sworn that Warrior’s blade seemed to glow with a strange pale blue energy. But there wasn’t much time to admire it as the captain unleashed a furious spin attack with a scream of ferocity, forcing the other Shadow Beast to the other side of the clearing. 

Steeling himself for the coming skirmish, Twilight’s ears twitched at the sound of shattering glass. He whipped around just in time to see the broken pieces of Wild’s strange barrier falling to the ground, with Wild himself following close behind. 

The giant claw of the beast raised back up into the air, and Twilight felt the world around him seemingly slow to a crawl. He watched Wild’s forehead collide with the dirt, eyes rolling back into his head. The beast let out a shrill cry of fury as it’s hand began to fall. For a moment, Twilight felt himself freeze yet again. Like before. Like he had been this entire battle. A small seed of anger at himself, at his weakness, seemed to dig into his stomach. The Master Sword swiftly positioned itself as that seed blossomed into a bloom of boiling rage. 

Twilight had forgotten how smoothly the Master Sword moved when he wielded it. How perfectly balanced it was. How effortlessly it cleaved through flesh and bone when impaling it through a monster’s chest. 

As the beast fell to the ground, Twilight kicked it away, moving to kneel by Wild’s side. But before he could take a step, a cacophonous wail emanated from the other side of the clearing. Some of his hair became caught in his fingers as Twilight desperately clawed at his ears to block out the horrible sound. Struggling to look up from his hunched over position, he saw Warriors directly in front of the howling creature, brought to one knee from the reverberating cry. As he held his head in pain, Twilight felt blood dripping through his fingers out of his ears. 

The shrieking slowly came to an end, and the creature leaped backwards, putting distance between itself and Warriors. The Shadow Beast on the ground began to twitch, life slowly returning to it, seemingly one limb at a time. As Twilight staggered away, ears still buzzing and ringing, the beast hauled itself back up, it’s head twitching and convulsing. He could see the stab wound quickly knitting itself back together, stemming the tide of black blood dripping out of it. It no longer faced Wild’s now fully unconscious form. The creature’s attention was entirely focused on Twilight. 

Great. 

The creature raised its bludgeoning fist once more, forcing an off balance Twilight to dive back, out of its way, tucking himself into a haphazard roll and landing on a knee. Master Sword clutched tightly in his hand, Twilight brought the sword up to block another successive blow. His arm shook as the creature bared down on him, holding the blade in its grip and ignoring it slicing into its palm. 

With a yell, Twilight twisted the blade, carving into the flesh of the monster’s hand. It released the blade with a hiss, allowing him to leap back once again. However, this time he was forced to stop in his tracks as his back collided with something else. Or more accurately, someone else. Warriors twisted around to meet his eyes as both of them realized that they had been forced on the defensive, and now were fighting back to back. 

“What do we do?!” Warriors gritted out as he raised his shield to knock away another swipe. “How do we time this? They aren’t giving many opportunities!”

Twilight grunted as he slashed his blade at one arm, only to have to guard against the other. No obvious eyes to hit here, he supposed. 

“We need to catch them off guard.” he responded, sweat dripping down his neck to mingle with the blood now trickling down his back. “Make our own opportunity.”

“Easier said than done,” Warriors muttered, “but I think I’ve got an idea. On my mark, I need you to duck.”

“What?”

“Just do it!” He snapped. 

“Fine! I’m willing to try anything at this point.” Twilight growled as a claw caught him in the shoulder after a sloppy attempt at shielding a blow. “Any time would be great!”

“Give me a second, we have to time it-“ 

“One of us could be dead in a second!”

“If we do this wrong, we’re fucked!”

“If we wait too long, we’re-“

“NOW!”

Twilight dropped, the wind from Warrior’s blade slicing through the air just ruffling his hair. The sound of metal slicing through flesh and blood rang out as Twilight hit the ground in a roll, sending him through Warrior’s legs to jump up and jab his own weapon into the giant mask of the other creature, just before it could have the chance to slash Warriors in his exposed back. 

The gurgling death rattles of the creatures were quickly followed by total silence as the two heroes caught their breath. The bodies of the Shadow Beasts began to darken before bursting into tiny fragments of teal and black twilight. Warriors and Twilight watched as the pieces seemed to float momentarily, shuffle themselves around, then fly up into the sky. Quickly, the pieces fit together to form a swirling portal in the sky. 

“What the hell…?” Warriors muttered. Twilight’s mouth was dry as he looked up at that familiar sight. _Her_ face wouldn’t leave his head as he stared at it. That was _her_ magic. He felt the spiraling beginning once more. The emotions began to hit him all over again. It took all of his willpower to swallow the lump in his throat and to breathe deeply and calmly. His eyes snapped open as he suddenly remembered. 

_Wild._

Rushing over to the other two of their companions, Twilight scanned them for signs of life. Sky’s eyes were flickering under his eyelids, breathing perhaps a bit shallow, but otherwise was even. But Wild...Wild was still. Twilight felt his heart leap up into his throat. Was he-?

Warriors crouched down and put two fingers under Wild’s nose, alarm clearly written on his face. Slowly, his expression relaxed, giving Twilight a nod. Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight knelt next to his friends and began to assess their injuries. Sky’s brown curls were matted with blood, a sizable gash on the back of his head. Littered cuts and bruises as well, but they probably only had to worry about a bad concussion.

Wild was another story. He was also sporting a head injury that was still oozing warm blood, staining his blonde hair. As he pressed a scrap of cloth to the wound to try to stop the bleeding, Twilight glanced up to see a matching red splatter against a nearby tree. Mentally connecting the dots, he shuddered to think of how Wild received that blow. His shoulder was all shades of purple and blue, though it seemed to have been placed back into its socket, albeit not with much dexterity or grace. Bruising also decorated the majority of his neck. Giant hand prints coiled around his throat, already turning a pale, sickly green. His breathing was shallow as well, a quiet uneven wheezing escaping his lips, Cuts and lacerations littered his face, adding to the patchwork of his existing burn scars. Twilight’s breath caught in his throat as he noticed the tear tracks that ran down his cheeks, cutting through the blood and grime. 

Twilight’s fingers ghosted over the injuries, almost as if he was afraid of touching them. That seed of self loathing seemed to burrow deeper, dredging up weight after weight of guilt. He hadn’t protected his Cub from this. He had let himself get into his own head and be inattentive to the things that actually matter. He had allowed his own stupid damage distract himself from the fight. Maybe, if he had actually paid attention, he could have spotted that creature before it had attacked Wild. Or if he’d not let his guard down in the first place, he could have seen the ambush coming before it had even happened. Or if… or if he had not gotten so emotional when Wild was hurt, he might have been able to stop the beast before Sky had to step in. Or if he… or if…

“Hey.” Warriors put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t do that.” Twilight looked up to him. When had he started to cry? He roughly dragged a hand across his eyes to wipe away the tears that were blurring his vision. “Don’t do that to yourself, Twi.”

“I’m fine.” He mumbled, standing up. “We can’t move them. I bet you they both have concussions.”

“Well I wasn’t thinking we should move them anyhow,” Warriors mused, rising as well. “We don’t know when the others-”

“Hey!” A familiar voice shouted. Turning to look behind them, the source was struggling through the nearby underbrush and dense forest, only to trip in the last few steps. Wind sprawled into the clearing with a yelp, face first into the dirt. A few sniggers came from the trees as the rest of their comrades emerged, bruised and battered, but none the worse for wear. Upon seeing their injured friends, however, they immediately rushed to Wild and Sky’s sides. 

Hyrule’s hands were already glowing with a warm light before he even knelt fully to the ground between the two, pouring his healing into the both of them. Wind sat beside Wild, anxiously watching Hyrule work and gaping at the wound’s the boy had sustained. Four perched himself on a rock, one knee hugged to his chest, watching Legend sort through his bag for whatever healing supplies they still had, but with a solemn expression set on his face. Warriors walked a few paces away with Time, quietly explaining the situation. The older hero’s expression seemed almost unreadable as Twilight observed him, even as he glanced up at the stationary portal in the sky. Though Twilight supposed that wasn’t anything new. Unsure of what to do, he glanced down again at Wild, but had to look away when heat began to build behind his eyes, and that feeling began to creep up again.

“So where are we?” Legend’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Anyone recognize it?”

“I mean, it’s a forest.” Four said. “Pretty sure it’s not mine, since we just came from there. But how would anyone recognize their Hyrule off of a few trees-”

“No.” Time said decisively. “This isn’t mine.” Four blinked a few times, perhaps an eye twitching, but remained silent. 

“Not mine,” Wind said quietly, eyes still fixed on the magic being performed in front of him. “No large forests in my Hyrule. Except maybe Forest Haven, but I don’t see any Koroks. Anyway, we’d be able to hear the ocean...” 

As his companions talked amongst themselves, Twilight looked around him. For the first time since he’d arrived here, he took time to actually take stock of his surroundings. Muted greens and browns of the trees and brush surrounded the group. The trees seemed to almost lean in around the open space, as if they were reaching out in an attempt to reclaim it. The ground itself seemed to be a worn path, ivy hanging from the higher ledges of rock that shaped it. Glancing down the southern path leading out of the clearing, up a small hill, he noticed another smaller glade. The recognition dawned on him as he remembered just what had happened there, in that very spot. 

A wall of twilight.

A giant claw, pinning his arms to his sides.

The horrible feeling of his bones rearranging themselves for the first time. 

The literal howl of pain that had escaped him. 

Then blackness.

Twilight shuddered as the creeping dread seemed to move from his gut to slowly claw its way up his back. 

_Oh_.

“...well if it were Wild’s, we can’t exactly ask him right now.” 

“I know that, Four! I was just suggesting the possibility!”

“Well then you could also argue that it could be Sky’s. We’re still screwed, either way.”

“Holy Hylia, you need to calm down. It was a hypothetical.”

“No you’re not looking at facts. And the facts are that Hyrule doesn’t have the healing to fix this, Sky and Wild won’t wake up, and we’re stranded in a Hyrule that none of us-”

Twilight coughed. “Um, guys…” Six pairs of eyes turned to meet him. “I think… I know somewhere we could take them.” Legend blinked. “What do you mean, Twi? You recognize this place?” Twilight shifted uncomfortably in his stance. “I… I think so. It’s been a long time.” Hyrule leaned forward. “So this is your Hyrule, then?”

“I think so.” Twilight murmured. He glanced down at the blade in his hand, only just remembering that he was holding it. “If I’m not mistaken, I think we’re in Faron Woods.”

“Where are you thinking of taking them?” Hyrule asked, brow furrowed with worry. “I don’t think that they should be moved right now. They’re both badly injured.”

“There’s a spring not far from here.” Twilight replied. “A guardian spirit lives in it. The waters have healing properties, and perhaps we could get some information from the spirit as well. I won’t pretend it’s not a risk, but I think we should give it a shot.” He looked to Time, who had been silently observing the conversation thus far. The older man closed his eye in thought, then turned to Twilight. 

“If you think it’s the right call, I trust you.” He looked to the others. “Any disagreements?” The others looked to one another before shaking their heads. “Right then,” Time said, looking up at the sun which, despite it only having risen a few hours ago in the previous Hyrule, was beginning to lazily droop toward the horizon. “We should get moving before it gets too dark. Twi, how far of a journey is it?”

“Not far at all.” He answered. “We should be able to get there before dark.”

“Right,” Time grunted as he carefully picked Wild up into his arms, being careful of his head and neck. Legend gently tugged Hyrule away from Wild’s form, as he seemed to think he could keep healing while they traveled, ignoring the strain that the magic obviously inflicted on him. Warriors knelt and scooped Sky up as well, careful not to touch the head wound that had been bound with what bandages they had been able to spare. 

Slowly, the boys began to fall into a marching order, one by one, following Twilight as he led them down the northern path. Yet a small voice in the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, couldn’t help but remind him what else lay down that southern path. What he had left behind. That part of himself that he had lost. A cold sliver of fear joined that little seed of anger in his stomach, wondering if he would have to go there on this journey. Whether he would even be able to face it. The uncertainty gnawed at him as his boots crunched on fallen leaves and underbrush, swiftly trekking through the forest of his childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo hoo! Road trip! Nothing can go wrong! Yippee!


	4. What May Lie in Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With most of their party injured and tired, and two members in critical condition, it is a desperate race to get to the spring in time. But this journey carries no small amount of risk, as any fight, even lesser threats, could now be a death sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I'm alive! I was super busy this weekend, and didn't have any time for writing! :( But fortunately, my life is now much more organized, and I can keep this crazy train going!  
>   
> I would like to quick remind everyone to read the tags. I do update them as I write, whenever I realize I should probably add one to it, and I really don't want to trigger anyone, as this fic can sometimes get kinda dark. Currently, I write a chapter ahead of the one I post before I post it so that I can have time to update tags before someone gets to something that they might not want to read about. (Not confusing at all when I put it like that, right?) That way they can have some warning. But I just want to make sure no one is uncomfortable or triggered when reading my work.  
>   
> So fair warning to those who may need it, cuz I don't know people's triggers, there is a seizure in this chapter, kind of in the middle of it. It starts right after the phrase "he felt the ground nearly give out beneath him." and ends at the phrase "'I'm sorry' he murmured. 'That was my fault.'" Again. I have absolutely no idea if that will trigger anybody, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to be safe.  
>   
> Also also, I haven't ever written a seizure before, so please do let me know if things are inaccurate. I tried to do as much research as I could, and not just throw it in for whump's sake. But yeah, feel free to let me know. I prefer to do my research first and try my best to understand before I put something that people actually have dealt with, or have to deal with in their regular lives, into a story or character.  
>   
> And now this is getting kind of long. Thanks for all of the support! I'm having a good time writing this, and I love updating it! Hope y'all like it!  
>   
> Ok. Safety PSA over. Imma go be mean to them all again. (I can't help it!)  
>   
> (Also also also, points to whoever can figure out how I'm naming these chapters. I mean it might be super obvious and I'm just deluding myself into thinking its sneaky of me, but there is a theme!)

The trek to the spring was dead silent, save for the raspy breaths that came from Wild’s sweat and blood covered form, as they hurried as fast as they dared through the wood. Twilight had never felt more on edge. He practically could feel his hackles raising, his footfalls silenced with practiced dexterity and stealth. They could not afford to attract any attention. Getting into a fight now could be a death sentence. 

As the trees sped past him, memories of Twilight’s journey began to follow suit. Racing after Talo, then after all of the Ordonian children. On two legs, or on four. With a sword and shield on his back, or a small imp. With sunlight streaming through the trees, or cloaked in the oppressive grasp of the twilight. He had traversed this forest many times before. 

But never with this much desperation. 

Branches whipped in the heroes faces as they pressed onward, everyone’s senses on high alert. Time and Warriors were doing their best to be as gentle as possible carrying their fallen friends, so as to not undo all the various first aid they had already applied. No one was chatting amongst themselves, or even tempting fate with a whisper. So it was of surprise to no one when nearly all of the heroes stopped in unison, crouching low in the foliage and pulling those who hadn’t immediately noticed to the ground as well. 

The dull crunch of leaves underfoot had all of their ears twitching with apprehension and anxiety. Twilight felt his heart hammering in his chest as he heard the unmistakable sound of chattering bokoblins, cursing and screeching at each other in their native tongue. The boys seemed to all hold their breath as the shouting seemed to turn from the generic howling and barking to the roars of argument. Shoving and shuffling in the dirt could be heard as the bokos squabbled amongst themselves. Peering from behind the greenery, Twilight peeked out at the creatures to see two purple bokoblins, in their correct Hyrule, wrestling ferociously with one another on the ground while a smaller blue one seemed to be jeering at them, egging them on with a disgusting look of delight on its face. Twilight turned to Time with a look of uncertainty. 

_“Should we go?”_ Twilight signed, with as much subtlety as he could. _“They’re distracted.”_ With Wild held in his arms, Time could only shake his head. He gestured with his eyes at something over the younger man’s shoulder. As he quietly shifted to see, the loud thudding of heavy footfalls caught his attention before anything else. A tall lanky, yet muscular form stepped out of the shadows, bellowing at the brawling bokoblins. The beady little red eyes of a silver moblin glared down at the creatures, who had since broken apart and were chattering at it animatedly. The blue boko, however, seemed to have dissolved into peals of croaking laughter, feet kicking as it pointed at its two companions. But as the two purple bokoblins gave aggressive squeals of anger, the lumbering gate of the large moblin shoved past them. The laughter seemed to die quickly upon being overshadowed by the massive monster. Seeing the moblin envelope the smaller creature in its fist, Twilight ducked down to hide. Legend quickly slapped a hand over Hyrule’s mouth as the traveler unintentionally let out a small squeak of surprise as a scream of terror suddenly exploded above them from the blue boko hurtling through the air over their heads. A sickening crunch later, and the creature crumpled to the ground from the side of a tree.

Peering back again, Twilight froze as the moblin seemed to be looking around in suspicion, ears twitching. It grumbled something to the two remaining bokos, who quickly skittered in separate directions, away from the moblin and into the underbrush. 

_“We need to move now!”_ Twilight signed, eyes darting as he tried to get a bead on the location of the creatures. _“They’re searching for us. We’re sitting ducks if we stay!”_

Time looked to the others. Warriors adjusted his grip on Sky, jaw set. Legend removed his hand from Hyrule’s mouth, giving a look to Time. Wind was already on his haunches, ready to move, eyes wide but determined. Four had his head on a swivel, peering through the green while searching for any movement. Time turned back to Twilight and gave him a tiny nod. 

Twilight breathed deep. Slowly, ever so slowly, he creeped forward under the cover of the bushes and ivy. The moblin was in his periphery, tromping around through the trees. Picking his path carefully, Twilight inched forward. Crouched down, he could see a little ways ahead where the ground seemed to end in a ledge, dropping down to hard packed dirt and another path. It could offer them the cover they desperately needed to move forward effectively, and essentially give those creatures the slip. Silently pointing it out to the others, he began to edge toward it. Freezing a few times at the sounds of rustling and croaking, Twilight resolved to take his time. There were no do-overs here. After a few painstaking minutes, he reached the edge. Slowly, Twilight brought his foot over the ledge, sliding down as noiselessly as he could. Now crouching on the ground, he beckoned the others to follow. 

Time and Warriors had some difficulty, both carrying an unconscious boy, but were able to touch down without any loud noises. Wind darted forward over the edge, tucking into a silent roll before hitting the ground and scurrying over to the others. Hyrule, Four, and Legend each dropped down without too much issue, as everyone turned again to Twilight’s lead. 

A finger to his lips, Twilight began to stealth forward at a quicker pace. The others fell into line, speedily following behind. “ _It’s not far,”_ Twilight signed to them, _“A few minutes, maybe.”_ Slowly, as they continued their travel, the frustrated bellowing of the silver moblin faded away. 

“Don’t you think we could have taken them?” Wind whispered, running up to Twilight’s elbow. “I mean, there were only 3 of them.”

“We had numbers, yes,” Twilight sighed, “But with four of our number essentially unable to fight, it didn’t seem worth it. Wild and Sky are already hurt, Time and Warriors are carrying them, and the rest of us haven’t fully recovered from that fight.” He gestured to the wound Wind was still sporting on his arm. “It was an unnecessary risk.” Wind nodded, eyes flickering forward, then to the side at Wild, very obviously trying not to stare at the arm that had fallen limply from Time’s hold. Silence hung over them as the party moved on through the woods. 

A few minutes later, Twilight began to recognize what part of the terrain they were in. They were close! Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned to his companions. But before he could even open his mouth, the hissing of an arrow cut him short. 

Time gave a grunt of pain as a shaft of a bolt was now jutting out of a gap in his armor in his abdomen. Stumbling to one knee, his grip on Wild seemed to momentarily fail, allowing the top half of the boy to land with a thud onto the hard ground. Adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream once more, Twilight swiftly equipped his Hawkeye, advancing in front of Time with an arrow of his own already on the string as the others all moved to be on the defensive. A guttural squawk of victory pinpointed the culprit, jumping up and down on the branch of an overhanging tree, holding a bow aloft. The purple bokoblin was cackling with laughter as it drew back another arrow, but was quickly silenced by a bolt in its throat. Wet gurgling noises were all it could make as it fell backward, landing on the path below with a puff of dust. Twilight held his breath as he listened for more sounds of attack, but was surprised to hear none. Perhaps this one had followed them, but forgotten to bring the others with him. Or perhaps it thought it could pick them off. The answer was uncertain, but before he could try to ascertain the truth, Twilight was distracted by a different sound. A moaning sound. Whirling around, back toward Time, he felt the ground nearly give out beneath him. 

Time was trying his best to turn Wild onto his side, who was now fully on the ground, while an arrow was still stuck in his back. Wild was still unconscious, but was now making grunting, gasping noises as his body convulsed. His eyes were partly open, but rolled up to the back of his head as his limbs spastically moved without direction. Twilight dropped to Time’s side as the seizure continued, his panic wiping his mind of anything helpful. 

“Give him space! Back up!” Hyrule shouted as the others moved to rush to help as well. “They need room! Twilight, is he on his side?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Good. Keep him there. The only thing we can do is let him ride it out. Keep his airway clear!” Hyrule looked around at the others. “We can’t move him until it’s over, so we need to keep them defended. Come on!” The group fanned out along the path, each with weapons drawn and eyes open, wary of any incoming threats. Warriors knelt with Sky near Time and Twilight, unable to look away from the writhing boy. A few minutes in and blood was seen staining his teeth. Twilight looked to Time nervously, unsure of what to do. The older man looked back, just as lost. A few more minutes passed, and just as Twilight was wondering if it would go on forever, Wild’s movements started to lessen. His eyes slid shut. A few seconds later he let out a deep sigh, then fell motionless once more. Time let out a breath in relief.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “That was my fault.”

“You were shot, Time.” Twilight said quietly. “I’m not blaming you for losing your grip for a second. I just wish I had seen it following us.”

“You couldn’t have known. We all were looking and none of us saw anything.” 

“I know, but I-”

“Pup. Stop it.” Time gave him a hard look. “We’re okay. Wild will be fine. Stop blaming yourself, for Hylia’s sake.” Twilight looked down at his Cub, his breathing back to the wheezing it was doing before. Standing up, he gestured the others over again. Time was still watching him as he gathered Wild in his arms once more. 

“We’ve almost made it to the spring.” Twilight said. “Follow me, and stay close.” With even more haste, Twilight forged ahead, following the sounds of water. The others kept up, everyone trying their hardest not to stare at the blood now running down from Wild’s lip. 

If it’s possible, the last leg of the journey was even more tense than the first part. Everyone was exhausted, but their adrenalin refused to leave or allow them rest. No monsters were heard shouting at one another. No thunderous footsteps gave them pause. Just the eerie silence of the wood. 

But before long, that silence gave way to a sound that almost made Twilight cry with relief to hear. Running water. Breaking into a sprint, he turned a corner to see the beautiful sight of the Faron Spring. Its waterfalls ran with bright, clean water. The rocks covered with carvings and designs still seemed to faintly glow. Even the colors of the clearing almost appeared to be more saturated and vivid. Twilight beckoned his companions over to the waters as he himself stepped into them. “It’s shallow here,” He called over. “Lay them here. The waters will do the rest.” Time limped forward toward the shore, still wincing in pain at the arrow that they had elected not to remove, as Warriors followed closely behind. Sky and Wild were gently laid in the water, the surface only making it up to their ears. Twilight himself could already feel the magic at work himself, as the throbbing from the bruising on his chest was beginning to fade. But it was a greater relief to see Wild’s face, wincing from the pain, begin to relax into a calm peace of unconsciousness. 

The rest of the group joined him in the pool, each giving small sighs of relief as their various pains already began to be assuaged. Wind sat right in the water, dunking his head in and shaking droplets everywhere with his unruly curls. Hyrule knelt next to Sky, removing the now soaked bandages, allowing the water free access to the wounds. A small curl of crimson made its way into the water before the blood flow was stemmed by the healing magics. 

“Wow, Twi,” Hyrule breathed. “This is some potent magic. What kind of source of magic does this place even have?” Twilight let out a small chuckle. “Maybe you’ll meet them.” He began to loosen Wild’s bandages as he spoke, relief flooding him as his Cub’s bleeding was quickly stopped as well. “It might be wise to speak with them before we leave, but we’ll see if that’s necessary.”

The other heroes looked to one another with curiosity clearly evident in their eyes. But they were soon distracted by a pained groan and movement from one of the boys horizontal in the water. 

Sky slowly pushed himself upright, water dripping from his hair. “Ugh…what happened,” he mumbled as Hyrule shifted to help him sit up. “Everything - _ow_ , hurts.”

“Well no shit,” Legend deadpanned, “You got hit in the head with a rock. You’re lucky you’re not a vegetable.”

“Legend!”

“What? He is! If it weren’t for Twi’s magic puddle, he’d still be unconscious!”

“Magic puddle?” Sky blinked, looking down at the pool, then up at his surroundings. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the veteran. “Yeah Legend. ‘Magic puddle’?” 

“Where are we?” Sky asked, confused. “How did we-?”

“This is Twi’s Hyrule.” Hyrule answered as he began to check Sky over. “The portal appeared mid-battle, and you and Wild got pulled through. So we followed.” Sky’s eyes lit up as he began frantically looking around. He froze when his view fell on Wild, still unconscious. “Oh Hylia…” Sky breathed. “He wasn’t that bad before, was he?”

“He looked like he was doing something reckless and stupid when me and Twi found you guys again.” Warriors remarked as Hyrule was now looking at Sky’s pupils. “He collapsed toward the end of the fight.” 

“Daruk’s Protection, I think.” Twilight murmured. “He’s told me about it before, but I wasn’t sure if he could even still do it. I don’t know if he knew either.”

“What is it?” Wind asked, eyebrows raised. Twilight tilted his head in thought. “It was some kind of shield. Wild had a friend who gifted the ability to him at one point, but I hadn’t ever seen him use it.” He looked up to meet Sky’s gaze. “Wild was using it to protect the two of you from those things, I think.” Sky looked back to Wild with an unreadable expression on his face. Twilight shifted over in the water toward the Skyloftian, removing the Master Sword from his back. “I think this belongs to you, by the way. You lost it in the fight, so I held onto it.” Sky’s expression softened, a smile tugging on his lips as he lifted the blade from Twilight’s hands. His relief evident, Sky looked up at the rancher with gratitude. “Thank you, Twi. I do appreciate it. But I wouldn’t say that she belongs just to me. We all are chosen heroes. The ability to wield her is your birthright just as much as mine.” Twilight felt taken aback by the hero’s words. After giving a quick nod of understanding, he silently moved back over toward his cub, who still lay unmoving in the water. 

“I think this magic has actually taken care of his concussion.” Hyrule marveled as he continued to examine Sky. “His pupils aren’t even dilated! This spring is something else.” 

“What about Wild?” Four asked, tossing his soaked boots to the shoreline. “How is he?” 

“He seems to be recovering as well.” Hyrule turned back to the unconscious hero. “His head wound is closed up. I think it’s just a waiting game now.” Time, who had since pulled the arrow from his abdomen without so much as a cry, now turned to the others. 

“We should set up camp. It’s getting dark, and we’re all spent.” he said. “We need to be at our best if we’re going to figure out why we were sent here.” The boys did their best to mask their groans as they left the soothing spring and began pulling out supplies to make camp. Hyrule tossed his bag to Legend, resolving to stay by Wild and use whatever healing magic he had remaining while the magical waters did their work.

Twilight didn’t even move. Sitting by Wild’s side, the furs now smelling strongly of wet dog, he looked up into the familiar sky of his home. And somehow, he found himself wishing again. Wishing that they go back to the boring treks through Four’s Hyrule. Wishing that he had never asked for anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a cliffhanger? Whaaaaat?


	5. Drape of Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The spring offers some answers, but the heroes are also left to ponder the questions it conjures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Writer's block is a thing, huh? Okay. Sorry that took so long for me to get done! I wasn't expecting that to come to a screeching halt so badly. But I figured it out! And I'm sure that it will Never Happen Again... right? 
> 
> Anyways, thank you once again for all the comments and interest in this lil' old fanfic of mine! I will do my best to keep going with everything I've got! I don't normally make New Years resolutions, but I'm just gonna say that this is mine this year. (And hopefully keep at it and not stop working at it like most people do with their gym memberships by March.)

Soft, pale moonlight filtered down through leaves overhead as Wild slowly cracked his eyes open. Water flowed through his hair, its cooling touch soothing as it went. His hearing was muffled by the gently bubbling flow around his head, which only increased the temptation to let his eyes fall closed again. But just as he started to drift off once more, cradled in the arms of the water, a voice seemed to poke through the fog. 

Wild squinted up once more. A blurry shape was blocking the light. Darker, but somehow familiar. The colors; gray, brown, green… they tickled at his memory. Blinking, he discovered, started to sharpen the picture. An indistinct splash of color became a face, the brown becoming hair, and the gray becoming a pelt. The face started to clarify itself even more, especially when those strange black markings came into view. “Twi…” he rasped, a crooked grin slowly building on his face. Twilight returned his smile with a small one of his own. “Hey Cub.”

Groaning, Wild was quickly reminded of how angry his shoulder was at him when he attempted to push himself up out of the pool. Quickly switching his weight onto the other arm, Wild felt the dull aching in his neck and shoulder as he sat up, water still clinging to his hair. “What happened?” He grunted as Twilight helped him keep his balance. “Easy, Cub.” His mentor murmured. “Don’t try to talk too much. The bruising’s gone down, but there could be internal damage to your neck still.”

“It’s fine, Twi. I’m okay.”

“Like hell you are! You were barely conscious when Warriors and I found you. If it had been a second later…”

“Well it wasn’t!” Wild snapped. “You… you did what you did… and I’m okay. I promise.”

His mentor’s face flickered with concern as he responded. “How much do you remember?” Wild shifted uncomfortably. “I, um… a tree. They threw me at a tree… What did they…? Sky! They threw Sky at me! Is he-?”

“Sky’s okay.” Twilight reassured him. “He’s with the others. What else do you remember?” Wild frowned, feeling a familiar frustration begin to worm its way back into his mind. “It’s kind of fuzzy… I think one tried to strangle me, but I got out of it. And then…” Wild trailed off, looking down at his arm. “...not much else.” Sighing with resignation, he rested his chin onto a hand as he sat in the water. “But that’s pretty normal for me, I guess.” 

Twilight’s brow furrowed with confusion as he tried to piece together the sequence of events. “Wait. They threw you, threw Sky, strangled you, and forced you to almost fully use Daruk’s Protection all in the time that it took Warriors and I to go through the portal after you?”

“I used what?”

“Hey! He’s awake!”

“Wild!”

“Save us! Legend’s trying to make food!” 

“Shut up, Wind!”

Quickly, the quiet conversation was overtaken by shouting as the others began to rush up to Wild and Twilight, completely abandoning the small campfire they’d built in favor of dampening their trousers and boots once more, regardless of whether they had finished drying or not. Voices overlapped quickly and Wild was immediately lost and confused in the cross talk. Sky was hovering around him with a worried expression plastered on his face. A clearly exhausted Hyrule was stumbling up to him and still trying to check him over, despite Four trying his best to convince the traveler to rest. Legend was saying something about recklessness. Probably telling him off. Warriors was throwing his hands in the air a lot. He probably was too. Meanwhile, Wind was too busy regaling his version of the battle itself from start to finish to even look to see if Wild was actually listening. 

“Guys! Give him some room!” Twilight thankfully barked out, putting his hands out to move the others back. “He isn’t even finished healing yet!” Wild blinked at the words, then properly looked at his surroundings. “Whose Hyrule is this?” Twilight turned, his discomfort poorly hidden. “Mine. We’re in Faron Woods.” Wild glanced down at his soaked clothes. “In the water?” Legend nodded, smirking. “Yep. It's definitely a Great Fairy Fountain.” Twilight rolled his eyes. “I told you before. It’s definitely not. This is different.”

“Uh huh,” Legend laughed, “Right, Sorry. Not a Fairy Fountain. A ‘Spirit Spring’. Totally different.” 

“I don’t know Legend,” Wind piped up. “We’ve been here for a little while. I feel like if there was a fairy here, they would have just shown themselves already. I mean, Wild was unconscious. Wouldn’t they have come to help?”

“They did help, Wind.” Legend pointed out, “The water healed him. Maybe they just didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it or something.” A few poorly stifled snorts of laughter were heard from the rest of the group. Doing his best to keep a neutral face, Time turned to Legend. “You know, I’ve met a few Great Fairies in my time, Legend. I don’t think any of them were ever known for their subtlety.” 

“Whatever.” Legend said, rolling his eyes. “It’s a different Hyrule. Different times. They could just be called something different. What else could be giving the water such strong healing capabilities?”

Wild watched with curiosity as Twilight had begun to grow a mischievous grin. Abruptly, he stood, water dripping from his form as he began to walk further into the pool, into the water lit only by that of the moon.

“You know, originally I was considering just leaving them in peace and asking around about the goings on ourselves,” Twilight said, matter-of-factly, as he walked, “but now I just really want to see this.” He waded in further, just a bit past his knees, as some of the others began to trail behind. Wild grimaced as he tried to follow, the remaining pains in his back and shoulder, as well as a sudden dizziness, was making standing a challenge. He gave a small gasp of surprise as he felt an arm slide under his, and lift him shakily up onto his feet. Time adjusted to support the shorter hero, an arm slung over his shoulder. As the two of them hobbled after the rest, Wild noticed a small tired smile starting to sneak its way onto Time’s face.

Twilight came to a stop a few paces away from the low shelves of rock that formed the flowing waterfalls around the spring. After a quick glance behind him, he looked up into the moonlit night air to the space above them. “Faron.” Twilight said, his voice echoing off of the stone around them. “We would like to speak with you. It’s important.” 

The heroes waited a beat in anticipation, then another. Then another. As they began to look to one another with confusion, Wild’s eyes perked up. “Look.” He whispered, gesturing to the rune-etched stones that surrounded the spring. The runes had begun to flow with a beautiful light energy that swirled and danced as it moved. It began to seep into the water, causing a few of them to take a step or two back when it surrounded them. Soon the entire pond was alight with the strange energy that pulsed even brighter for a moment, before receding back to a reasonable glow. The sound of a drop of water resounded around them when the surface of the water broke. But it was strange. It was like they were seeing something splash into the spring in reverse. Ripples began to flow back to a single point on the water’s surface, followed by droplets of water leaping back to the epicenter of the disturbance, as if to point to the source. 

And then, rising up out of the water from that point was a large ball of energy. The light in it was swirling about in a hypnotic pattern. But before the boys could become too transfixed by it, a pair of hands seemed to reach from nowhere and cling onto the orb. Before their very eyes, a large creature made from solid light followed the arms from out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the ball, their long tail curling up and around past their head to form a large circle. The gigantic monkey-like creature turned to face their direction, glowing eyes boring into them.

Somewhere near him, Wild heard Wind whisper to Legend.

“That is definitely not a fairy.”

“No shit. Shut up!”

The creature looked out over them all, seeming to briefly make eye contact with each of them once. When they spoke, their voice seemed to vibrate the air around them. Wild felt it reverberate in his chest, and echo both around him and in his mind. It felt as though this being was charging everything near it with a strange, ancient energy. All with the power of just their voice. 

**_“My name is Faron. Welcome, Hero of the Twilight, once more to this spring. And welcome to the heroes from across time. You have traveled far, over many eras.”_ ** The boys looked to one another with stunned surprise as the Light Spirit slowly continued.  **_“Your arrival to this era at this time is most fortuitous. Yes, as I can sense the Hero’s Spirit in each of you, so too can I sense a Darkness that looms over Hyrule. A new threat has come upon this land, and we are unable to defend from it.”_ **

“A new threat? Is it connected to the Shadow Beasts that attacked us?” Twilight asked, stepping forward once more. “They ambushed us in another era, then forced us to follow them here. They should be sealed away, and not in those cursed forms anymore. How can they be here?”

**_“Hero of the Twilight,”_** Faron responded, turning to face Twilight. **_“I am afraid that your previous battles are not over. I have sensed the touch of the twilight realm once more upon this land. But this time it appears to be shrouded. I know not the location.”_** Twilight gaped up at the creature, aghast. “That can’t be possible! Ganondorf was destroyed! The mirror was shattered!”

**_“Unfortunately, hero, some of the work that you fought for in order to protect this realm has been undone. But this time under a new banner, and new direction. I do not sense the Demon King in this land, but a new source of evil. A new gateway between the words, it seems, has been forged. Yet the source is foreign and unknown to me and my brethren. What is known is only that it is a source steeped in True Darkness.”_ **

“True Darkness…” Twilight murmured, apparently trying his best to remain calm. “What about the other Light Spirits? Have they discovered anything?” The spirit seemed to furrow their brow in thought. **_“Until recently, we Light Spirits have been watching for evidence of the twilight’s reemergence, as well as stand guard over our domains. We had sensed nothing more than its presence, but could not ascertain its whereabouts. That is…”_** Faron trailed off, with what almost looked like hesitation in their eyes. **_“That is until recently, one of the spirits has fallen silent.”_**

Twilight’s eyebrows shot up, alarm worming its way into his voice as he spoke. “What? Which one? They could be in danger!” Faron closed their eyes with an expression that could only be described as regret and sadness. **_“The Light Spirit Ordona has faded from my sight, hero. I know not the cause.”_ **

Wild thought back. Ordona… He’d heard that name before. Turning to his companions, it seemed that he wasn’t the only one having similar thoughts. But looking up at Time, Wild was surprised to see not only recognition, but worry in his eye. Twilight had his back to them, but Wild could see his hands clenched tightly in fists, as well as a slight tremble to his shoulders. 

“How recently?”

**_“No more than a day before your arrival. I could not go myself to seek them out, as that would leave Faron Woods unprotected.”_** Twilight shook his head. “No, no. Of course you couldn’t. Don’t worry, we can investigate. Could we ask for your protection for the night? We had encounters with creatures wandering the wood on our journey here.” The spirit nodded slowly. **_“Of course, Heroes. Rest here within this spring. This place is protected from dangers so long as I am here.”_** Twilight nodded his thanks to the spirit, motioning for the others to do so. The large creature looked down on Twilight once more, with what looked like pity. **_“I pray for your success, Hero of Twilight, and hope that great sacrifices will not be necessary this time...”_**

With those parting words Faron began to slowly fade away, followed closely by the glowing light in the rocks and waters. Silently, Twilight turned away from where the Light Spirit had been and walked away from the spring, refusing to look any of them in the eye. Everyone seemed frozen for a moment, confusion over Faron’s words clearly in their minds. But after a few seconds of uncertain glances to one another, they soon slowly began to follow suit. 

Wild felt Time’s gaze on him as he struggled to maintain his footing when they turned. He could feel the magic of the spring slowly dulling his pains, but the dizziness stubbornly remained. “Do you want to spend more time in the water?” Time asked as the two of them wobbled back to the campsite. “Or if you want, we can get you a potion. That might take care of the dizziness.”

“I’m okay, Time. I think I should spend some time on dry land, and probably just get some rest.” Time rolled his eye. “At the very least, let Hyrule heal you some more in the morning, once he’s recuperated. We don’t want to travel with you still injured.” Wild raised an eyebrow. “The spirit said this place is protected, didn’t they? Doesn’t that mean we won’t be attacked?” Time shook his head. “Not the forest. We ran into some nasties on the way here, and got very lucky.” Wild squinted in confusion at Time’s expression. He could have sworn… For a moment it looked like Time’s carefully crafted mask had cracked, and Wild thought he saw guilt flash across his features. But the next moment it was gone, replaced once more by neutral concern. 

Puzzled, he looked down at the ground as they stepped onto the bank of the spring. “I’ll see how I feel in the morning.” He muttered. “How about that?” Time sighed in resignation as he set Wild down onto a bedroll. “Fine, Wild. But we aren’t traveling until you’re healed. Get some rest.”

The boys all seemed to be changing out of their wet clothes, laying them out on the rocks to dry once more. Twilight sat a little bit away from the others, head on his chin, clearly lost in thought. Wild was not the only one to notice this, however. Time was sitting with the others, removing his armor, but occasionally glancing over at Twilight as well, concerned. But he didn’t move to act on it, letting him have time to himself to think. 

Wild’s attention, however, was soon drawn to a little pot that had been hanging over the campfire during that entire exchange. The pot which was now emitting not a small amount of smoke. “Shit!” Legend yelped as he rushed to the cooking pot and grabbed the handles without thinking. “FUCK!” He leaped back, holding his now burnt fingers. Warriors and Wind began to roar with laughter as Four pointed to the spring without a word. Face red and grumbling, Legend stomped over to the water, sticking his hand in and trying his best to hide his relief with a deep scowl. 

Wild eyed the still smoking pot with apprehension. But as he tried to move toward it, that dizziness sat him right back down again. At his wits end, Wild finally relented. “Time!” The older hero looked to him quizzically. “Give me the potion. I’ll be damned if anyone else tries to make food around here.”

* * * * * * * * *

After the surprisingly tricky process of disposing of the slightly twitching gelatinous mass that Legend had unwittingly created, Wild served them all a proper meal that night. And though Legend was clearly embarrassed after Hyrule had to completely incinerate his ‘creation’ before it fully stopped moving, he accepted his pumpkin stew without complaint. A few jokes and stories later, and most everyone began to bed down to sleep. They still elected to keep a watch, in case anything were able to break past the spirit’s magic, but Wild was practically forced into his bedroll when he tried to volunteer. 

Sleep didn’t find him easily, however, which is why he found himself lying awake in the dark, silently listening to a quiet conversation by the fire.

“...will be okay, Pup. We can get there if we move quickly.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I know these woods, we’ll be fine. I just don’t know what we’ll find when we get there.”

“We can’t be sure, no. But it could be something different. Faron said it themselves that a new threat has come. Calm down, Twi. This isn’t what you faced before.”

“But they also said the twilight has returned. Just under a new banner. Time, I- I don’t know what I would do if it’s fallen to twilight. That’s my home. I know people there. It didn’t even happen when I first journeyed across Hyrule. I stopped it from happening! I don’t know-”

“Twi, take a breath. We don’t even know what we’re dealing with. It’s not even practical to make assumptions, because the rules could be different this time. We haven’t even scouted anything out. This twilight could be anywhere in Hyrule, Faron said. Not to mention that they sensed it before Ordona went quiet. There could be other things going on, but we just don’t have the information to piece it together yet.”

“But besides that, Time. We still will likely run into areas covered in twilight at some point, which is going to be a huge problem. How are we supposed to travel through it? Just to get in, we would need a Twili on the inside to pull us through, which we definitely don’t have. And even if we get in, I don’t know what it would do to all of you! I know how it will affect me, and I suppose Legend now. But everyone else… I guess Sky would be okay holding the Master Sword, but I can’t risk that! I can’t take a chance of you all becoming Lost Souls. You would be defenseless to whatever is in there! Not to mention… seeing me. I have absolutely no idea how that conversation will go, but it’s probably going to happen way before I am ready to have it!”

“Pup, look at me.”

“...”

“Look at me, Twilight!”

“If you try to tell me to calm down one more time-”

“I’m not going to, since that obviously doesn’t help. You need to listen to me. This is getting you nowhere. I agree that risking everyone in the twilight is not an option at this point, and revealing yourself will only allow you to go in-”

“It won’t even do that. We need a Twili-”

“But besides all of that, you are worrying about problems that we do not have the full picture of. I understand your concern. I understand that you are worried about your home, not to mention any complicated feelings that go along with going there. Don’t look at me like that. You were clearly uncomfortable with being here long before we learned of any threats concerning the twilight. I get that this is a hard journey for you to face, not to mention doing it in front of people that you probably didn’t want to share this with. I am sorry that this is happening. But we  _ are  _ here, it  _ is  _ happening, and I  _ need  _ you to be focused. You have to look at this objectively, otherwise you will hesitate. I know that seems harsh, but it’s important for you to understand.”

“I know Time, I- I just keep getting in my own head. I haven’t been back there… in a long time. I don’t even know what it’ll be like  _ without _ any threats. I left for a reason, Time. And I wasn’t planning to come back this soon. Maybe someday, but not now.”

A sigh. “Well Pup, no matter what, remember that we’re here to help you, not judge you. It’s obvious that this place is important to you, even if you haven’t returned in a while. And I’d be surprised if any of your friends would not be willing to support you and to help you fight for it. You know that.” There was a pause before the sound of shifting bodies and movement could be heard. “Get some sleep, Pup. It’s almost time for Four and Warriors’ watch.”

A couple minutes passed, then Wild heard the sound of rustling. A few grumbles of “I’m up, I’m up”, a yawn or two later, and a quiet had fallen over the clearing, leaving Wild with his thoughts once more. Unease now lay over him like a heavy blanket, but conversely, it only seemed to hinder his path to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://i.gifer.com/PeYp.gif


	6. Dusk Falls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group begins travel to Ordon, though a few conversation still need to be had. And all the time, the question of what they will find upon arrival hangs over everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops. Mixed up chapter names with this one and the last chapter. Fixed that real quick, and I'm sure no one would have noticed if I hadn't said something, but whatever! Anyways, enjoy! This was my challenge chapter that was keeping me stuck for so long, so here's hoping it doesn't sound too choppy!
> 
> Regardless of that, thank you all for all for the support and kudos once more! Over 1000 hits is kind of insane! I've still got plenty of story to go, so buckle up! Cuz things are about to go down!
> 
> (Oh also, anyone figure out the chapter naming scheme yet? Again, I might be thinking I'm way cleverer than I am or something, but if you have, let me know! I am curious!)

The following morning felt a lot more familiar to the group than the previous day had. Early risers shook awake the rest amidst complaints and curses. And when that inevitably didn’t work for some, aka Sky, the usual practice of physically dragging them out of their bedrolls, accompanied by thinly veiled threats of throwing them in the spring, generally did the trick. Wild blocked everyone’s path to the cooking pot, stubbornly insisting he was well enough to make breakfast. And soon, the tantalizing smell of eggs and fried rice was wafting through the area. 

Small conversation also seemed to be daring its way back into the group, perhaps stifled after the last night of silence. Jokes were made, and the boys seemed to be returning to their more relaxed selves. There was even an animated discussion about a dream Wind had had that involved something about Time turning into a Cucco, and what it could possibly mean. But amidst the intense debate over what such a scene said about Time’s ‘primal desires and instincts’, Wild couldn’t help but notice Twilight’s silence. He was listening to the conversation, but had yet to say a word. When his mentor inevitably noticed his stare, Wild turned his head quizzically, as if to silently ask, ‘ _Are you okay?’_ Twilight closed his eyes, slightly nodding his head. Quickly, before anyone else could notice the silent exchange, he turned back to the conversation in time to listen to Legend point out that animals appearing in dreams could indicate the totem spirit of the dreamer. “No way!” Wind yelped, jumping to his feet in indignation. “I am not having a Cucco as some weird protector spirit! Not a chance!”

“But wouldn’t that be kind of great?” Hyrule mused, “I mean, better to not be the target of their attack, don’t you think?”

“Hello?! Have you seen those things in action? They are vicious! I don’t want anything to do with them!”

“You know this conversation is so fascinating,” Warriors interjected, “But don’t you guys think we should be planning for the day ahead?” Wind sheepishly sat back down as the others nodded their agreements. “So, Ordona?” Legend asked, turning to Twilight. “Where’s that spirit? Does it have its own spring as well? Or something different?”

“No, it has a spring.” Twilight answered, “It’s actually only about a day away. We do have to backtrack, though. We have to go back to that clearing and keep going south. Shouldn’t be long after that before we make it to the bridge outside of the village.”

“A village?” Wind piped up, curiosity in his eyes. Wild noticed Twilight seeming to cringe with realization upon the question being asked, but turned to the young hero nevertheless with a neutral mask. “What’s it like? Is it very big?” 

“Not very big. Ordon Village isn’t technically part of Hyrule proper, but just on the outskirts of Ordona Province. Right next to it though.”

“And Ordona… is like Faron?”

“Yeah, they’re a light spirit as well.”

“So they’re a monkey?”

Twilight looked up again in a moment of surprise, then burst into laughter. “No, no, no! Ordona doesn’t look like a monkey! The Light Spirits all have their own forms.”

“Wow Wind. Do all Light Spirits look the same to you?”

“Shut up Legend! You’re the one who thought the monkey was a Great Fairy!” Soon the group was roaring with laughter amidst the two’s growing quarrel. Wild glanced to Twilight once more, but this time was met with his mentor genuinely smiling and laughing along with their cohorts. Breathing with relief, Wild let out a small groan as he pushed himself to his feet. The potion had done its work, his balance had considerably improved. But even so, Wild felt a hand on his arm as if to steady him as he stood.

“What are you doing?” Hyrule asked, eyebrows raised. “You still need to heal. Sit back down.”

“I’m okay, ‘Rule.” Wild reassured him, removing Hyrule’s grip on his arm. “Really, That red potion helped. My shoulder doesn’t even bother me that much!”

“Even so, we need to be careful.” Hyrule insisted, “I don’t want you out of commission because you pushed yourself for no reason.”

“I’m not pushing myself!” Wild protested, “I’m okay to travel, I promise! You can check me over, but I feel great. Look, even my balance is fine!”

“That’s not what I’m worried about! I don’t want to risk you having another-” 

The traveler’s words died suddenly in his throat, prompting him to abruptly shut his mouth. Wild looked at him with confusion. “Another what?” 

Hyrule seemed uncertain, sending a few panicked glances over to the others. Looking to them himself, Wild saw a variety of expressions. Worry, realization, guilt, fear. But none of them would look him in the eye.

“Hyrule. Another what?”

“Another seizure.” Time responded. Wild turned to the older hero in shock. “On the way to the spring, you had a seizure. I had lost my grip on you and you hit your head again on the ground. We had to stop and wait for it to be over because you couldn’t stop convulsing.”

“Why… didn’t you say anything” Wild asked quietly, anger threatening to seep its way into his voice. 

“I- uh, we- well…” Hyrule stammered, his voice small, “I don’t know, it- well...It didn’t really… come up.” Wild’s face twisted into one of disbelief. “Never came up? What, were you afraid telling me would ‘break’ me more?” Shaking his head and turning away from the group, he began to gather his things. 

“I am not made of glass. I have quite literally gone through worse and survived. Within the last twenty-four hours, I’ve had healing from the spring, a potion, and you! Like hell am I going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs while some threat is out there, with no one stopping it, just because you think I’m not capable of pacing myself.” And with that, Wild stomped off to collect his bedroll. Though he didn’t look back, the sounds of gathering bags and stamping out the embers of the fire told him that they would, in fact, be leaving soon. 

Yet there was a small piece of him that felt guilty as the day’s travel began. What small semblance of ‘normal’ they had reclaimed had fallen back into hushed conversations, nervous glances, and a general air of discomfort that hung over everyone. Twilight led the way, a few paces ahead of everyone. Legend walked with Warriors and Wind, hanging at the back of the party, whispering quietly to one another. Hyrule silently stayed next to Sky, seemingly to keep an eye on his injuries. But this also meant that Wild could feel the traveler’s stare on his back from a couple yards in front of him. 

Time had fallen into step next to him, not saying anything. But to Wild’s surprise, his demeanor was not one of anger, frustration, or even discomfort. The older hero seemed completely unphased walking at his side. A few sheepish glances up at him later, and Wild couldn’t hold his silence.

“I know I-”

“You were right to be upset.” Without breaking stride, Time continued. “We should have told you that sooner. But you should know, none of us were trying to keep it from you. We all actually were distracted by everything that was happening.” Wild scratched at the back of his neck in discomfort. “I guess so… It didn’t really change much. I’m not even sure why it made me so angry at that moment.” Time nodded thoughtfully, “Well, once you do, please remember to talk to Hyrule. He still feels guilty about it, even after I reminded him that he didn’t actually do anything inherently wrong. It was an oversight by everyone.” Wild hummed in agreement. A few minutes of silence later, he leaned over to Time, lowering his voice. 

“So this is Twilight’s home village?” Time glanced down at Wild with mild surprise, but it quickly melted into realization as he sighed. “You should get more sleep, Wild.”

“Not my fault you were talking so loud.” 

Time shook his head in defeat. “Yes, this is. But I don’t think it’s that simple. I know that he left that village a while before he met us, but he never told me why. This is much more personal than it’s ever been for Twilight, that much is clear. He has shared some things with me, but has been much more closed off as of late.” Wild nodded in agreement. “He’s barely even talked to me.” Time’s brow was furrowed with concern. “This definitely is going to be a challenge for him. I’m not sure what we’ll find when we get there, but I think Twilight will need us to be there for him, whether he realizes it or not.” 

Wild gave another small nod, then glanced forward at the hero in question. They did need to talk, and he wasn’t exactly one for patience. Wild began to pick up his pace until he was able to sidle up next to Twilight as they walked. After a few moments of quiet, he turned to his mentor.

“You look happy.” 

Twilight blinked at his protégé, taking a moment to register what he was saying to him before responding. “I’m fine.”

“Oh I know. You definitely look like it.” Wild said, rolling his eyes. “Come on, Twi. Give me a little credit.” Twilight seemed to take a moment to think. “It’s complicated, Wild. Ordon Village is… a complicated place for me to go to. I’m not sure how else to phrase it.” Twilight fell silent after that, seemingly willing to leave the conversation there. Wild waited a few moments, hoping for more of an answer, but when none seemed to be coming, his patience ran out. 

“I’m not gonna lie to you, Twi,” Wild said slowly, “I kind of already heard some things. Last night. I really didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but you weren’t exactly the quietest-”

“Seriously Wild?"

“What? You were loud!” 

Twilight sighed, head in his hand. “So you already know why I’m distracted. Why even ask then?”

“Because Twilight! I wanted to try to talk to you about it, and you aren’t letting me!” Wild stopped himself before his voice raised too loud, taking a breath to calm himself before continuing. “I care about you, Twilight. And I don’t want you to have to deal with this alone, because you don’t have to! It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me all of what happened, but at least be aware that you aren’t alone this time.”

“I… I know that, Wild. I know I’m not alone in this. It’s just… the force that is threatening this world again is not something to be trifled with. It is so much more dangerous than just the everyday monsters we fight.” His voice shook as he continued, his eyes downcast. “When I last faced it, so many people that I cared about had their lives put at risk. More than a few of them were hurt, and some nearly died. I don’t even know what I would do if it hurt any of you. I don’t know if I could fix it this time.” Wild slowly nodded in understanding, thinking about his mentor’s words before responding. 

“Well, we’re all able to follow your lead. I don’t think any of us are going to take risks with this if it’s as dangerous as you say. At least, as long as you communicate that, and trust us to listen to you. But I also don’t think that you could stop any of us from wanting to help you if you tried.” A sigh escaped him as Twilight hung his head, smiling. “You’re probably right there, Cub.”

“What’s Ordon Village like?” Wild asked, his genuine curiosity getting the better of him as he shifted the conversation. “You said it was small before, but kind of a village is it?”

“Mostly farming.” Twilight answered. “There’s a small pumpkin patch and some grains that the villagers harvest, but most of the trade they do is in goat milk. Ordon Ranch had about 20 goats or so when I was there last.”

“Did you like living there? It seems pretty out of the way.” A soft smile tugged at the corners of Twilight’s mouth. “Oh it was nice living there. I don’t think I could picture myself living in some big city. It wasn’t very exciting, but it was good. Taught me hard work.”

“If you liked it, then why did you leave?” Wild immediately regretted his words as a shadow crossed Twilight’s face. “Sorry, that was probably overstepping, wasn’t it? I-”

“No it’s alright, Cub.” His mentor sighed, turning to him as they walked. “You know as well as I, once you go on a journey like all of us have, you aren’t the same when it’s through. You can’t go back to the way things were. Believe me, I tried.” He shook his head as he continued. “It just... didn’t fit me anymore. I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t gone through the things that I had. That I hadn’t seen the things I had seen. I thought I just needed time, and that someday I could return to it. But ‘someday’ hasn’t happened yet. I don’t even know if it ever will…”

“Well we all can’t adventure our whole lives.” Wild pointed out. “That day might still come, Twi. You never know.” Twilight nodded wordlessly as they continued their trek. 

As they sank into silence, Wild began to look closer at the woods around them. While it wasn’t the same as the many forests that he had traveled through, mapped out, and lived in for most of his journeys, there was a similar feeling of comfort. A feeling of freedom that just came with any travel through the untamed wilderness. Birds chirped and warbled their calls to one another. Squirrels and small creatures scurried through the underbrush and up trees, gathering and storing their finds. Even the path they walked seemed to be halfway reclaimed by the forest’s reaching arms. Both branches and roots hung above and on it, not in a threatening manner, but in the natural way that a forest regrows what it has lost, and outlives the efforts of man. No matter where he went, Wild always found himself at home in the innate peacefulness of the untouched parts of the world. But just as he was beginning to lose himself in its beauty, Twilight’s voice snapped him out of his trance. 

“So. Daruk’s Protection, huh?” 

Blinking away his daydream, Wild was instead reminded of the hazy nightmare that had been slowly beginning to return to his memory since the morning. Small fragments kept circling in the back of his mind. 

Sky squinting blearily up at him. 

Sweat pouring down his face. 

Gigantic fists beating against the amber facets that surrounded him...

“Yeah, I think that part’s starting to come back to me.” He said, rubbing his shoulder. Twilight looked over at him as he spoke. “What made you use it? I hadn’t ever actually seen it in practice before now.”

“I know. Not since Ganon…” Wild trailed off. He shook his head to clear his mind once more, thinking back to the fight. “To be completely honest, I didn’t know if it would work. I had thought that, since Ganon was defeated, the gifts would have faded as well. I didn’t need them anymore, or at least I didn’t think I did. I guess it was a last-ditch attempt at not dying that somehow worked.” 

Twilight stared at him for a few seconds, then shook his head with a chuckle. “Cub, you are going to give me gray hairs. Well I’m glad that it still works. Do you suppose that means the others work too, then?”

“I mean, I’d imagine so.” He mused. “I hope so. I don’t really have much to remember them by. Only a few out of context memories and their weapons, which I don’t really use because I don’t want them to break. Those abilities are honestly all I have left to remind me of what they were like.” 

Wild gave a sigh as that same frustration took hold of him once more. “You know, I haven’t really thought about it all that much before now, but I don’t remember my childhood. I know that my father was apparently a knight, but nothing more than that. I know that I’m not the same person I was before I lost my memory, but I wish I had at least something. Something from when I was a kid.”

“You know, you’re still pretty young. You aren’t exactly done growing up yet.”

“I’m one hundred and seventeen years old.”

“You were asleep for most of that, Cub.”

“That’s not the point! I don’t even know where I lived, Twi! Hylia’s sake, how many times have I walked through the ruins of my Hyrule? How many times do you think I’ve stood in the ruins of my childhood home without even knowing it?”

“Don’t think like that, Cub.” Twilight said quietly. “You won’t gain anything from it. You couldn’t help the situation you were put in, no matter what you tell yourself. And besides, there is still time. Maybe someday those memories will come back to you.” A small smirk curled onto his face. “You know, a wise old man once gave me such an excellent piece of advice. And in his words, I’d remind you that, ‘You never know’.”

“Yeah yeah, okay you got me there.” Wild snorted as Twilight chucked to himself. They both went silent for a few moments, before Wild broke the quiet once more. “You know, I don’t know if this was the case for me, but I think I would have liked to grow up in a place like this. Out in the woods, no major cities for miles. It’s just so nice and quiet out here...”

It was at that moment that the both of them realized it, looking at one another with alarm mirrored on each other’s faces. Stopping dead in their tracks, the pair looked around them, hearts beating faster and faster in their ears. 

“What’s wrong?” Legend asked, as the group halted by their side.

“Shhhhhh!” Wild and Twilight hissed in unison. Silently, Twilight looked around them. Wild strained to hear it. Any of it. But none caught his attention. Stomach sinking, he whispered to their companions.

“You hear that?” The others began to listen as well, confusion evident. 

“...No?” 

“Exactly.”

Wild saw the realization hit them all in unison. No birds. No chattering of squirrels. Hylia, even the wind seemed to have gone silent. It was like the whole forest was holding its breath. 

Turning to look at Twilight, dread slowly filled him as his mentor’s face was practically drained of blood. Before he could even think to try to stop him, Twilight bolted down the path with reckless abandon. A few cries of ‘Twi!’ and ‘Twilight, wait!’ followed him, but it really wasn’t surprising that none of them had an effect. So instead of wasting his breath, Wild darted after Twilight himself, trying his best to keep up with the only one in the group familiar with the terrain. 

Weirdly, the forest was suddenly a lot less comforting to Wild. The lazily hanging branches now whipped him in the face as he ran by. Roots seemed to reach up on purpose to try to throw him to the ground. And all of it was accompanied by this foreign but total silence, completely devoid of life. But soon that forest gave way to tall stone walls on either side, leaving a claustrophobic path forward. A few moments more of sprinting ahead, and Wild was just about ready to stop to catch his breath and wait for the others, when he was forced to skid to a stop behind Twilight, who was stock still before him. He would have reached out to his mentor to try to talk to him, but that was not what immediately commanded his attention.

It was instead the fact that Twilight was silhouetted against a gigantic wall of pure darkness, runes etched in its surface with an orange glow, stretching up into the sky for as far as the eye could see, and completely blocking their path.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mua ha ha... I'm a DM at heart. I love me a good cliffhanger if you couldn't tell.


	7. Guided by Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twilight struggles to grapple with the reality before him, as well as the questions that his companions inevitably have. But an unexpected solution presents itself from an odd source.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi.
> 
> Uhhhh.
> 
> Wow.
> 
> Sooooooooo.
> 
> I am. So sorry. 
> 
> I did not intend for this to take this long. Holy crap. I thought that I had writer's block before. It was like I had hit a full on wall for a good bit of time. I was finally able to push through it and get this out there, so here we are, but it has been like, 2 weeks since I updated, and for that I sincerely apologize. I do really appreciate all of you that are still leaving kudos and comments. It's really motivating to see! I hope I can be, you know, a bit more consistent for you guys going forward. 
> 
> Anyways.
> 
> So a few of you were speculating how they were going to make it through the twilight, and if everyone was gonna transform. Not gonna lie, I don't think anyone guessed what my plan was, and I definitely took some liberties with it. But like, plot? Idk. I hope it doesn't blindside people too much, or come too far out of left field, but it's what I've got. Soooo yeah. Enjoy a new chapter, and I will be updating it much faster than before!

“Twi? Twilight look at me!” Wild shook his mentor’s shoulder with increasing panic. “What is this? What’s going on?” But despite his pleas, Twilight’s eyes stayed resolutely frozen on the wall before them, seemingly unresponsive to Wild. 

“I-I…” Twilight whispered, face colorless. “I don’t… i-it can’t…”

“Wild!” A shout came from behind them, with the rest of the group rushing down the narrow path to meet them. Gasps and whispers emitted from their cohorts as they took in the overwhelming sight before them. “What is this?” Hyrule murmured, slowly moving toward the darkness. 

Twilight’s eyes snapped to the traveler’s outstretched hand, and with the swiftness of a striking cobra, he snatched the arm away. “Don’t touch it!” He bellowed, yanking Hyrule from the wall. “Get back from it! Get BACK!” Wild nearly jumped out of his skin at the unfamiliar sound of Twilight raising his voice. It was almost disarming, seeing his mentor so panicked. The heroes stumbled to obey, still processing the shock of the moment as Twilight herded them away. 

Once everyone had backed up enough for Twilight’s comfort, Legend finally spoke up. “What is this, Twilight? What’s so dangerous about it?” After a few shaky breaths, he responded. “You remember Faron mentioning the ‘Twilight Realm’?” A few of them nodded in affirmation. “This… effect, I guess, comes from that realm. It’s the twilight. It can cover entire areas at a time, shrouding everything within it.” 

Sky looked up into the sky at the unending barrier. “What does it do to you?” He turned to Twilight. “Is it like a poison?” Twilight knitted his brow in distracted thought as he clearly struggled to maintain his composure. “Not exactly? I honestly don’t know exactly what it is, but what I do know is that if a person of the Light World touches it, they lose their physical body and become a spirit.” There were a few cries alarm as well as several shuffles further away from the twilit barrier as Twilight continued. “But the worst part is that they wouldn’t even know. They’re just perpetually stuck as a spirit, terrified of an unseen evil, but helpless to stop it.”

“Well how do we get rid of it?” Wind said, hand on the hilt of his sword. “If you got rid of it before on your own, it should be a piece of cake with the nine of us!” Twilight shook his head. “It’s not that simple, Wind. You have to-” He broke off, hands coming up to cover his face in the clear panic he was in. A few seconds later he quietly stammered out, “You have t-to go... in.” 

Warriors looked at Twilight in confusion. “Into the twilight? How are we supposed to do that? You just said not to touch it. How do we do anything if we’re turned into spirits?” Twilight hesitated visibly once more, stuttering over his words. “I don’t- I don’t know… I’m not…” 

“What do you mean, you ‘don’t know’? You did this before, so what’s the problem?” Warriors pressed, irritation beginning to grow in his voice. “What, did you lose your magic, twilight-repelling amulet or something?” 

“War...” Wild hissed, glaring at him. The captain looked to him, then glanced over to the farm hand once more. Twilight’s breaths had started to become more and more uneven, and he wasn’t looking anyone in the eye. “I-I don’t… I mean I can’t… anymore.” Warriors' eyes narrowed. “I... had help from someone before, and… and they can’t help us anymore. I don’t know what to do.”

“What? You’ve got nothing?” Warriors said, accusingly once more. “Can’t you contact them or something? We’re in your Hyrule!”

‘She’s GONE!” Twilight snapped, hands dropping away from his face to ball into fists at his side. Warriors flinched back in surprise, only now seeing the tear tracks on Twilight’s face. “Sh… she can’t help us.” He whispered, quickly wiping the moisture away as he turned to face them all. “We’re on our own and I don’t have a way to safely travel through this! I don’t know what to do!” 

Time pushed past Warriors to put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s okay, pup. Deep breaths. Look at me.” Slowly, his eyes met Time’s as he began to control his breathing once more. After a few moments of this, Time quietly continued. “There’s nothing you can think of? Maybe there’s a way around the wall.”

Twilight shook his head. “The twilight usually covers a large area. This is just one wall of it. We have to get to the spring to figure out how to dispel it, and we have to cross the bridge to get over the ravine to reach it. I don’t know of any other bridges across. But even if we did have a way to protect ourselves, we don’t have a Twili to let us in. We can’t just enter by ourselves.” He took a deep breath, then furrowed his brow in thought. “And the only time I can think of that I was able to be within the Twilight as- well… on my own, was when I had the Master Sword. It does repel twilight, but that wouldn’t work for 9 of us. It only worked for myself.” 

“So what do we do?” Hyrule asked. “Camp here until we can come up with a plan?”

“Are you kidding? Next to the clearly evil wall of darkness?”

“Well obviously not  _ right _ here! Just nearby.”

“But we have no way in. And camping isn’t going to change that.”

Quickly, the group began to dissolve once more into overlapping conversations. Wild refrained from joining in, and instead opted to survey their surroundings once more. He glanced up at the tall walls of rock surrounding them. Perhaps he could scale those. Maybe he could get a good vantage point and get a better view of what the situation was. Good. It felt too claustrophobic in this valley anyway. But as he moved to find the best climbing path, Wild briefly saw movement out of the corner of his eye. 

Sky had silently slipped away from the group a few paces, unnoticed by the others. Wild watched as he moved to stand before the wall. Slowly, with careful precision, he drew the Master Sword from its sheath, then held it out toward the darkness, almost challengingly. The two waited with bated breath, hoping for a reaction, but none came. The wall remained resolutely solid and in their path. But as Wild moved forward to better watch his experiment, Sky suddenly sat on the ground, cross legged and eyes closed. Wild stopped, watching transfixed as Sky arranged the sword on his lap and breathed deeply, all whilst sitting mere feet before the gigantic wall. 

A few moments of motionlessness passed, Sky sitting in solemn meditation and Wild awkwardly standing behind him a few paces. Suddenly, Wild’s eyes locked onto a faint glowing coming from Sky’s midsection. Moving to the front of the boy, he saw the Master Sword still on his lap, but now faintly pulsing with a light blue aura. A small chiming sound seemed to be emanating from it, almost beckoning him forward. A strange sensation began to wash over Wild, growing stronger with every peal of the bell. An urge to move closer. To See. Somehow, his hand was already outstretched before his mind even thought to command it to do so. The call was now so strong, it filled his senses almost entirely. But the moment his hand actually made contact, Wild’s vision suddenly went white. 

Flashes of images quickly burned themselves into his mind. Large chunks of rock floating in the air, bathed in an orange glow. A palace, formed from smooth, dark, stone walls. Creatures wearing familiar large masks milling about the space. Flecks of darkness floating through the air. The images seemed to move faster and faster, almost blurring together at this point. A giant, rune covered hand. Heavy fog crawling along the ground. Tiny tentacled creatures striking from the darkness. Soon the pictures were moving so quickly, he couldn’t focus anymore. He wasn’t sure how long he watched the strange visions flash through his mind. They all seemed to bleed together. But then, without any warning, the scroll of images halted. Halted on a single depiction.

An orb. A white sphere surrounded in turquoise runes and emitting a clean white light. A flash of light, and Wild could see a hand holding the Master Sword, but it was now surrounded by this same bright light. The orange hue of the world around it seemed to shrink away at its touch. Masked figures shrank down to smaller, humanoid forms in its glow. 

The vision then began to fade. Wild felt his consciousness returning to himself, but just before it faded to black, the image seemed to change one last time. No longer was it a brightly lit Master Sword, trailing light energy from it. No, instead it was a blurred image. A small form moving across his vision. But just before it cut out, he caught a glimpse of something distinct. Vivid orange… was that hair? 

With a gasp, both Wild and Sky fell away from the sword, with Wild landing on his ass on the ground. The two of them locked eyes, and in that moment they both understood that they had each seen the same thing. There were shouts of alarm as they seemed to have been finally noticed by the others. Twilight rushed to Wild’s side, pulling him away. 

“What did you do? Are you alright?”

“Why is your sword out, Sky?”

“What’s that look on your face? Did you figure something out?”

“Did you touch it?!”

The two of them floundered as they were bombarded with questions. Quickly, Wild was pulled to his feet. Twilight gripped him tightly as he shook Wild’s shoulders. “What were you thinking?! I told you it was dangerous! Why wouldn’t you-”

“That’s not what we did, Twi!” Wild shouted. “We’re fine! Sky was… uh, I’m not sure what Sky was doing to be honest, but we saw something! It was like a vis-”

“Twilight!” Sky said, his voice uncharacteristically commanding. “Do you know of any kind of white orb that emits light?” Twilight blinked, confused. “What do you mean? A white-”

“Yes! A white orb, about this big with blue runes on it.” Sky said quickly, holding his hands out to reference. “Do you remember ever encountering something like that?”

Twilight thought long and hard. “Was that… the Sols…? Oh yeah! Yeah, I know what you’re talking about! There were these orbs of power in the Twilight Realm called Sols. But wait, how do you know about them?” Sky smiled, holding up the Master Sword. “She’s still got a few tricks, Twi. Not to mention a fantastic memory! Now come here!” He grabbed Twilight by the arm and dragged him forward. The others followed behind with a mixture of curiosity and confusion in their faces. 

Sky brought the Master Sword out once more, this time placing it in Twilight’s hand. “I’m not sure how knowing that will help, Sky.” He stammered, looking down on the blade. “The Sols are in the Twilight Realm. It’s not like I can go back there and get them…”

“You don’t need to.” Sky said calmly, hands on Twilight’s shoulders. “You’ve already done it. And like I said, She remembers.” He turned back to the group quickly. “And he needs to focus, so be quiet!” Wild looked back to the rest of them, their bewildered faces completely taken aback by the normally docile and laid back hero who was now completely taking charge. 

“Focus on what? What are you trying to do, Sky?” Twilight protested. “I’m not following on what you want me to do at all.”

“Listen to me, Twilight.” Sky insisted. “She showed me what to do. I need you to close your eyes. I think this could work!”

“You  _ think _ ?”

“Twilight!”

“Okay, okay!” He begrudgingly acquiesced and closed his eyes. Sky let go of his shoulders and the blade, leaving it solely in Twilight’s hand. 

“Now. I need you to picture the Sols in your mind.”

“Seriously?”

“ _ Twilight! _ ”

“Sorry! It just seems, I don't know, cliche?” He muttered. Sky sighed. “Twilight, can you please trust me?” 

“Okay, okay fine… I’m picturing them now.” 

“Good. Now picture yourself placing the both of them on those pedestals once again.” Twilight only nodded this time, his face pinched in concentration. “Remember what it felt like to hold the sword when it absorbed their power. Feel the ancient power of those Sols being fused with the blade you carry. Know that you hold the power to wield such magic.” 

As he spoke, Sky’s voice seemed to echo off of the stone surrounding them, doubling and reverberating with every new word. It was strangely hypnotic, listening to him speak. In fact, as he listened to Sky’s words, Wild began to feel as though he was being pulled once more into a trance. Looking around to the rest of the company, however, it seemed like he was not the only one feeling this effect this time. Eyes were half lidded, unfocused, and drawn to the words being spoken. Looking to Sky, he found the Skyloftian to curiously be bearing a similar expression as he spoke. And as he did, that faint blue energy from the Master Sword had begun to appear once more while Twilight held it, pulsing to the beat of his words. But before he could think much more on it, Wild found himself pulled back in, listening intently once more.

“Feel the warmth you felt from the light. Remember cutting away the twilight from around you. The Twilight that surrounded you, not bothering you. The Twili being returned to their natural states of being. Now feel the sword that you hold now. That blade remembers its wielders across all of time, along with the power that you gave it, which has laid dormant within it all this time. That power never left, and was never forgotten. Awaken that power, Twilight. You’re the one who remembers how.”

Suddenly, in unison, all of them felt the trance shatter. Wild blinked rapidly, clearing the fog from his mind before looking to Twilight and freezing in shock. Sky was doubled over, panting whilst holding his head, clearly reeling from whatever it was that he had just done. But what caught his eye was Twilight. A look of awe seemed to be overtaking any other emotions on his face as the hero held up the sword once more. The Master Sword, which was now bathed in a glowing, brilliant light.

The group immediately surged forward, gasps of shock and amazement directed at both Twilight and Sky. After many demanding questions, Sky could only respond with, “I’m not sure! I just followed what she told me- no I didn’t know that would happen! I didn’t know what would happen! No I can’t do that to yours!” Whereas Twilight seemed to be transfixed still, staring at the blade.

“Hey!” Wild shouted, his voice lost in the cacophony. “Guys, hey!” No response amidst the clamoring. Sighing, he placed his hands before his mouth and gave a shrill whistle, bringing all conversation to a screeching halt. “Why don’t we see what this sword can do?” He said, gesturing to the wall. “I mean, weren’t we on a time crunch?” 

Twilight blinked, snapping himself out of a daze at Wild’s words, then wordlessly began to approach the intimidating wall. The group gathered behind him as Twilight stood his ground, moving the glowing blade to point to the darkness. Everyone held their breath as the small movement alone seemed to cause a ripple across its surface. 

Slowly, Twilight took a step forward. Gasps rang out as, at the center of the wall, the darkness was cut away, forming an arched entryway through it. Peering through, an old wooden bridge could be seen spanning a deep ravine, with particles of darkness floating around it in the open air. It, as well as the continued forest on the other side were completely bathed in a dull orange light. 

“Gather around, you guys.” Twilight whispered. “Stay close, and  _ do not _ touch the twilight”. Weapons were swiftly drawn as he began to advance into the darkness. The light of the sword pushed back the twilight around them in a radius, giving them a medium sized bubble of safety. Advancing further, Wild heard breaths sucking in with minor fear as each of them crossed the line of the wall into the twilight. Though they were protected, when it came his turn to do the same, Wild swore that the temperature immediately dropped a few degrees, and the air around him grew heavier. If they weren’t on edge before, everyone felt the tension rise even further when the wall sealed once more behind them. 

The world around them was a strange sight to behold. Dull oranges and yellows saturated everything. The sky was neither in darkness nor light. It was perpetually stuck in a dusk-like state. No sun. No moon. No clouds or stars. Just a hazy blank sky. For a moment, Wild felt as though another dizzy spell was hitting him, but no. Everything just looked out of focus. It was disorienting to look at, not to mention every subtle sound echoing so much louder than expected. Everyone seemed unnerved by their surroundings. Even Time’s eye was flitting back and forth on high alert. 

The light around them seemed to push away the twilight in a clear barrier, surrounding them with a clean, bright aura of the World of Light, but it did little to assuage their unease. To Wild in particular, seeing the dome around them clearly marked felt almost more like a cage, keeping him trapped within its confines. He was so used to the open air of his Hyrule. The freedom to travel where and whenever he pleased. 

This felt stifling, like a prison. 

Slowly, the group began to cross the creaking bridge. There was no wind for it to sway in. Only the weight of nine sets of boots crossing it, causing it to groan and squeak with protest. Sounds echoed off of the canyon’s walls around them. Squeaks and yips of keese chittering to one another in the distance seemed to pervade the area. But everyone jumped at the sudden piercing screech of what sounded like a trumpet ripping through the air. “Shadow Kargaroks…” Twilight muttered. “It’s okay, I don’t see it near us.” But still he seemed to hurry his pace a bit, everyone quickly matching it to move off of the old bridge. 

Reaching solid ground once more, they found themselves surrounded by stone shelves and trees once more, similar to the makeup of Faron Woods. But this time, they found themselves ill at ease under this oppressive shroud of twilight. 

“Twilight,” Wind whispered. “Did you really have to travel through all of this on your own?”

“A few times,” He murmured. “This used to cover almost all of Hyrule before I was able to clear it.”

“Hylia’s sake, Twi!” Four shook his head. “How did you not lose your mind doing that? This is… I can’t imagine doing this alone!”

“I wasn’t totally alone, I told you.” Twilight mumbled. “Don’t give me too much credit. I had help before. I probably would have lost it if I hadn’t.”

“ _ She _ helped you, right Twi?” Warriors mused. “Does  _ She _ have a name?” Abruptly, he was cut off by a gasp for breath as Legend’s elbow jabbed him in the gut. “Time and place, Wars!” He hissed. “Drop it, you idiot.” 

“Excuse me?!”

“Both of you!” Time said, sharply. “Knock it off. We are not in a place to have an argument right now. Table it.” The two of them shrank back a little, the reprimand shutting their mouths for the time being. Wind turned back to Twilight. “So how do we get rid of this? Do we have to take out the source or something?”

“Sort of. We need to get to the Light Spirit of this area. They will have answers for us. That is…” Twilight’s face twisted with worry. “That is assuming they have the energy still to communicate. The Light Spirits are the ones who protect areas from getting taken over. We will probably have to restore their power, which was likely stolen if twilight was able to consume this place.”

“Stolen?”

“Guys.” Wild whispered suddenly, stopping. Conversation halted as they turned to face him. “Do you hear that?”

Listening to the sounds around them at first proved difficult, given the reverberating echo that surrounded everything, but as they had been walking, Wild could have sworn that he could hear something irregular. Then during the others’ conversation, it seemed to grow more distinct. A low, mournful wail was beginning to slowly fill the air, growing louder and louder with every step they took. 

“What is that sound?” He asked, gripping the royal bow that he had in his hand tighter. A shadow crossed Twilight’s face. “Ordona…” He breathed. Wind perked up. “The spirit?” Twilight nodded, eyes closed. “They’re crying.” he said quietly. There was a brief pause as everyone digested that fact before Twilight took a deep breath. “That means they’re close. Come on. Let’s not waste time.” 

Quickly, the heroes surged forward once more into the woods. No one wasted time with conversation any longer. All that could be heard now was their own footfalls, panting breaths, and that haunting crying that seemed to grow with each passing moment, hitting each of them in the very core of their souls with a feeling of melancholy and grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooooooo yeah. They didn't transform. I hope I didn't disappoint people or anything. I just didn't see it as feasible since a) I genuinely couldn't figure out what everyone would be, and b) It felt like that would kind of 'derail' everything, given that I have no clue how they would communicate and how Twilight would explain wtf is going on to everyone else as a wolf. and it also is probably not an angsty enough reveal in my opinion. at least not 'in the worst way possible' as per the tags that I promised. No worries. It's coming. And yeah, I realize that Wolfie hasn't even appeared yet, but fear not. For he be coming. Anyway, I am gonna get this next chapter asap so as to not leave you in too much suspense.  
> The boys do have a Light Spirit to meet, don't they? ;)


	8. Scattered Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group experiences the joys of traveling through a world shrouded in twilight and are quickly forced to problem-solve and improvise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter today! This was the monster that I had been mildly dreading for a bit now. I know the story I want to tell, and it needed this part in it for it to make sense. But I knew this part would be tedious. Kind of like, you know, everyone's favorite part of Twilight Princess! Walking around in a creepy area with creepy music, hunting for creepy bugs that were totally easy for child-me to find. God I remember being frustrated then. And I was frustrated now. But I did it! I made it! I wrote the thing!   
> And now I can write the parts that I am most excited about! And I hope you enjoy!

The world was a blur around him as Twilight felt his vision focusing solely on the road ahead of them. With every step, despite himself, he heard a mental chant in his mind over and over. 

_ Please be alive. Please be alive. Hylia, please let them all be alive… _

It took effort not to let his mind wander further down that train of thought to what lay beyond Ordona’s spring. It took effort not to think about who was okay, who might have been hurt, and who was even still there. How long had it been since he had left, he wondered? Had they been angry? He hadn’t left any note or reasoning behind. Or conversely, maybe they didn’t care. What if they had forgotten him? Life had to have carried on without him there, and it wasn’t like he played a major role in their lives. What if they had just moved on without him and didn’t look back? What if…

Twilight shook his head to pull himself back. Sighing, he closed his eyes and pushed the thoughts away. Effort, he reminded himself. It took effort not to go down that path. Instead, he refocused his attention on the actual path before him. 

The melodic lamenting of Ordona had only grown in intensity, and it hung in the air around them as the group pressed onward. Following the beaten path through this forest, most of the group hesitated upon eventually reaching a crossroads. But without breaking stride, Twilight motioned them forward to the right branch. “This way.” He called. “Hurry!” 

Quickly, the party scrambled to follow him whilst still staying within the radius of the glowing Master Sword. Soon the sounds of bubbling water were reverberating in the space around them as the group burst into the clearing of Ordona Spring. 

All at once, the mournful cry that had been their beacon thus far fell silent, leaving them in an uneasy silence. Slowly, quietly, Twilight moved further into the spring. 

As he advanced forward, memories of childhood swirled in Twilight’s mind, much like the water around his ankles. Very little seemed to have changed since those days. The rock walls were as he remembered them, engraved subtly with runic symbols. The waterfalls fell in the same places on the stone shelves. Even the small horse grass plants were still where they had been all that time ago when he would play them for Illia and Epona. Twilight grimaced as he realized how much more effort it now took now to remain focused. Thinking of Illia… well that complicated things so much more, didn’t it? He sucked in a breath as he quickly stopped that train of thought from going too far. He couldn’t afford to think like that. Not now. 

“Is this it, Twi?” Wild asked, voice hushed. “Is this the spring?” He slowly nodded in response. “Yeah. This is definitely it.”

“Well where is it?” Legend muttered. “Where’s Wind’s monkey?”

“It’s not a monkey! Or a fairy, either! Shut up!”

“Shhh!” Time hissed. He turned to Twilight. “Are they here, Twilight? Or are they hiding?”

Suddenly, a low humming began to emerge from an unseen source, abruptly silencing their hushed conversation when everyone started to feel a slight vibration in the air around them. Twilight looked to Time. “Don’t worry. They’re here.”

The humming seemed to pulse even stronger for a moment, each of them feeling it in their chests. But it’s intensity fluctuated, waxing and waning unevenly. Then, as if whispering in his ear, Twilight heard a faint voice. 

_ “…This way… Hero...” _ it gasped,  _ “…Time… grows short...”  _ A quick look to the others clearly told him that they had heard the same message. Wordlessly, they moved together as a group, walking toward the rock shelf at the far end of the spring. And as they did, a dull light began to slowly appear in the air before them. 

A small, weak ball of light began to coalesce, hanging in the space above them. Thin, faded tendrils of sickly light seemed to curl around it, as if in a feeble attempt at defense. The main body of light flickered and wavered in tune with the uneven humming that was still pervading the space. When it spoke, practically every word filled each of them with an aching sadness without name, its grief effortlessly overpowering their own emotions.

_ “…Hero… of Twilight… your work…is not done… A breach… has been made…”  _ Twilight’s grip on the gently glowing blade tightened as the Voice continued its mournful, reverberating message,  _ “…This land… has been plunged into twilight… Please… You must… restore it… Find… my light... Time… is running out...” _

The silty ground at Twilight’s feet began to vaguely shift. Stepping away, he watched as a thin, golden stem began to shoot up from the spring, its delicate tendrils wrapping themselves around the small pearly droplets of water that still clung to it, as if they had solidified into glass beads. Twilight had to fight to repress a sigh as the newly grown Vessel of Light severed itself from the ground to float up to his open hand. 

_ “…You know…what to do… I trust…”  _ the Voice echoed, its voice and that low humming beginning to fade away into nothing, _ “… I…have faith…Hero…” _

The faint glow wavered, struggling to maintain itself, before eventually dying away as well, leaving them alone once more in the spring with nothing but the sound of water. 

“What is that?” Four asked, looking closely at the small plant in Twilight’s grasp. “‘You know what to do’?” Legend muttered, “Had to go vague with it, didn’t they?”

“Well do you know what to do, Twi?” Wild asked, “They didn’t give us much to go off of.”

“No, I… I know what to do.” Twilight murmured. “They gave us a Vessel of Light. That tells me everything I needed to know.” 

“What do we do with it?” Wind questioned. “I mean, it’s really pretty, yeah, but does it do anything?”

“Well, the Vessel itself doesn’t do a lot.” Twilight responded. “But it’s in the name. It is a ‘vessel’ for fragments of ‘light’. The Light Spirit here had its light stolen and scattered across the region.”

“So we have to find… light?” Warriors asked, confused. “Still seems pretty vague.”

“Tears of Light, actually.” He responded. In the corner of his eye, Twilight saw Sky, who already seemed intrigued by this conversation, perk up even more. “They were likely stolen by Shadow Insects and are being held by them. We have to find the insects and kill them to regain the tears, which are stored in the vessel.”

Four nodded. “Okay. Bugs shouldn’t be an issue. I mean, they can’t be that difficult, right?” Sounds of agreement, as well as a few chuckles emanated from the group. Twilight sighed, a small smile on his face. “Well yes, they would be, except for a few caveats.”

“Oh, come on!” Wind whined. “Can’t it just be easy for once?”

“Well first off, they are creatures of the twilight, so they can actually hurt you. And take it from me, their bites sting like hell. So avoid that.” Twilight thought some more before continuing. “There are a few that have lightning that they can shock you with if you get too close. Most likely, they’ll just try to run away, but they may try to defend themselves with it.”

“Oh.” Wind mused. “Well that’s not that bad. I mean, we’ve definitely faced worse.”

“You’re not wrong, sailor.” Twilight laughed, “But the purpose of the insects themselves isn’t to hurt us. They are to annoy us, and waste time. They aren’t the only creatures out there. There’s plenty of monsters that have been transformed by the twilight to be even nastier. They’ll be coming after us for certain.” The heroes nodded, determination in their faces. “Sounds straightforward.” Warriors said, “We just have to remember not to let our guards down.”

“But there is one other major problem that we’re going to have to deal with.” Twilight admitted. “The insects… are not visible to the naked eye.”

“What?!” Legend groaned. “Then how are we supposed to find them? Wait, how did you find them before?” Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “They, um… well they do leave lightning trails behind them. It’s this weird purple lightning. But you still kind of have to guess a bit. And get lucky.” Warriors narrowed his eyes. “But you said not all of them have lightning.” His mind raced to come up with an explanation, but none were coming to him. All he could stutter out was, “Like I said I, uh… got lucky.” But before Warriors could open his mouth to press him further, Time thankfully came to the rescue. 

“It’s alright. I think I have something that could help us in this situation.” Everyone looked to the older hero as he dug in his bag and withdrew what looked like a strangely colored magnifying glass. The handle and metal of the object were a deep violet color, and the lens itself seemed to be of a similar hued glass. At least, except for the red slit of glass in the center of the lens, shaped almost like a cat’s eye. Three red spikes protruded off of the top of the frame, giving the whole item the look of a staring eye. “This is the Lens of Truth.” Time said. “It’s supposed to reveal hidden objects and creatures. I don’t know if it would work on these creatures, but we can always try.”

“Well it’s definitely better than nothing.” Legend smirked. “Let’s try it.” Twilight nodded in agreement, shaking off the fear that had briefly gripped him. “Sounds good, but remember. You have to stay within the radius of this sword. We can’t get into too big of a fight, or we might risk someone falling or being pushed out. Be careful, and be quiet.” 

And with that, he began to advance out of the spring, the others following behind. The path was clear, but Twilight elected to move slower this time. They could not afford to miss anything or make mistakes. Time walked toward the front of the group, thoroughly scanning their surroundings through the Lens of Truth. As they ventured onward, everyone remained huddled together, weapons drawn and on high alert. 

Eventually they emerged out of the narrow forest path and into a clearing. Twilight sucked in a breath as he recognized the familiar tree house. Looking around, he couldn’t help but smile to see those old targets and that scarecrow dummy still stood where they had, albeit weathered and older. Twilight didn’t realize he had stopped until the others came to gather around him.

“Is this something?” Hyrule asked, hushed. Twilight shook his head. “No… I was just, uh, getting my bearings. It’s been a while.”

“Wait.” Time murmured, holding up the lens. “Is that…?” He motioned for Twilight to look through. Squinting, he could see what the older man was pointing out. There, on the side of his old home, was a fat, shadowy insect. Sighing, he nodded to Time. The others crowded around to try to get a good look through the glass, a few making sounds of disgust. 

“How do we approach this, Twi?” Time asked, taking the lens back from Sky. “Do we just shoot it from here? Your call.” Twilight glanced at the glowing sword and gauged its radius. “I think you all will still be okay if I go up there. It’s not uncommon for them to be in pairs.”

“I’ll go with you.” Wild piped up. Before Hyrule could open his mouth, he cut him off. “I’ll be okay. It’s a bug, for Hylia’s sake.” And without another word, Wild reached over and took the Lens of Truth before anyone else could complain. The two of them quietly began to climb the short ladder that stood between them and the front of the house. Twilight pulled himself up with practiced ease, doing his best to ignore the dust that came off on his fingers. Looking to Wild, he readied his sword to strike. His cub peered through the glass where they had looked before, then froze. “It’s not there anymore.” He whispered before rapidly looking around. Twilight readjusted his grip on the shining Master Sword, waiting for Wild to call it out. But when his protégé moved the magnifying glass to point in his direction, only for his eyes to widen dramatically, it felt like everything came to a sudden stop. 

Maybe it was just his instincts as a swordsman, or a gut feeling. Or just maybe it was from the long stretches of time that he had spent racing through the forests on four legs, relying on his enhanced senses to show him the way. Twilight wasn’t certain what it was that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, but his sword arm moved without bothering to find the answer first. The question didn’t even fully register in his brain before he felt a familiar feeling of the Master Sword making purchase. 

A small crackling of purple electricity sparked weakly at the end of the blade as Wild gave a small yelp of surprise. He brought the Lens of Truth up just in time to see a large bug impaled on the point of the Master Sword before its form shriveled and burst into a cloud of black smoke. Then, from the dissipating remains rose a bright blue tear of water that hovered in the air. Wordlessly, Twilight raised the Vessel of Light to the Tear, ushering it into one of the crystalline beads. 

Wild looked down at the now gently glowing plant, so transfixed that he almost missed the sound of crackling electricity coming from within the house. Swiftly, Twilight snatched the Lens from Wild’s hand before kicking the door open and scanning the interior through its gaze. 

Sparks skittered across the old wooden floors before Twilight was able to bring the glass to focus on its movement. Its magic revealed to the two of them the form of another fat bug scurrying up a small bookshelf, knocking books and objects off in its frenzy. But before he could act upon the urge to move further into this empty house, Twilight stopped himself. Glancing back at the blazing sword in his hand, his heart leapt to his throat when he realized just how little of the radius was left on the ground below them. He could see the rest of the party nervously backing away from the visible edge of the barrier with every step forward he took. He stood, frozen with uncertainty as to how far he could travel before his friends were exposed to the merciless twilight, and unable to act on what only he could see. But as he was quickly reminded, he was not the only one with keen senses.

The speed that Wild had drawn a bow, nocked an arrow, and locked onto an invisible target did give Twilight a sudden rush of pride. The arrow tore through the air with a sharp whistle, hitting its mark with a disgusting squelching sound. The silhouette of the creature began to appear as it withered into a dark husk, curled around the shaft. A burst of darkness, and Twilight was giving Wild the Vessel of Light to go and collect their second tear. 

The two of them dropped off of the ledge to rejoin their companions. “Were you successful?” Time asked. Twilight handed him his Lens as Wild held up the vessel, showing them the two blue motes of light. Legend examined them briefly before turning once more to Twilight. “Where now? I’m assuming we have to fill this thing, so where else can we find some?” 

“Hey look!” Wind yelled suddenly, pointing behind them all. As they turned to see, an unseen source of a spark of electricity skittered about on the ground behind them. “They’re practically handing those tears over!” Wind crowed. “Get it!”

The youngest hero took off running after the trail of lightning, with the others scrambling to follow and keep Wind within the safety of the Master Sword’s glow. It darted down the path once more, with the heroes in hot pursuit. Out of the corner of his eye, Twilight saw Hyrule draw his own bow and release an arrow. It landed just short of the invisible creature with a thud in the dirt. Suddenly, the sparking trail came to an abrupt stop. Wind skidded to a halt just in time to see a small cloud of dirt be thrown in the air and the electricity to disappear. 

“Where’d it go?” He said, confused. “What did it do, teleport?”

“Damn it.” Twilight groaned “I forgot about them burrowing!”

“Seriously, Twi?” Legend grumbled. “Well now what do we do?”

“Wait, you guys.” Time interrupted. His Lens of Truth was still focused where the trail had ended. “I can still see it. It’s underground, but I can still- Wait no, now it’s moving! Hurry!”

Once more, they began to rush ahead, but now completely blind to their quarry, save for Time. The winding path carried them forward, following the insect all the way along it until the road opened into that familiar village in the valley. 

Twilight couldn’t help but noticeably sucking in a breath upon seeing his old home now shrouded in twilight. The trees appeared to sag with the weight of the darkness, their branches barren and outstretched like skeletal hands. The small brook that flowed through the houses seemed to move like molasses, slowly burbling along its path. Shadow Keese circled above at a distance, their shrieks echoing across the space endlessly. Twilight had to fight to keep his horror internalized, having already momentarily failed. But if the others picked up on it, no one commented. 

Instead, their attention was focused on Time, who still had the Shadow Insect in his sights. He kept leading the group forward for a few more paces past Twilight, just in time for everyone to see another small puff of dirt in the air next to a small cat flap on the nearest house. The flap was briefly pushed open by an invisible hand before swinging shut once more, the crackle of electricity catching their ears as it did. Hands on weapons, the party slowly advanced to the door of the pink-roofed house. But they all jumped upon hearing a loud crash from within. 

Throwing the door open, Twilight rushed ahead while brandishing the brightly lit Master Sword. Electricity burned along the ground amidst shards of broken pottery. But before he could stick it, a large sword fell with a thud onto where the invisible creature was likely scurrying. The Biggoron Sword had sunk into the wooden floor a few inches after the now visible and clearly bisected insect had been hit. As it burst into particles, relinquishing its tear into the vessel, now secured onto Twilight’s hip, Time and his protégé both looked up, stunned to see two trembling forms behind the counter of a shop, before them. 

There was a larger woman with short brown hair tied up into buns on her head. Her roots were graying, and her face was starting to wrinkle with age. But that didn’t stop Twilight from recognizing both her and her daughter, who was crouching near her. She definitely was older now. Her dirty blonde hair had grown from chin length to reaching down to her ribs. Twilight watched a teenage Beth hold her mother, Sera as the two of them shook with fear. Their forms were the teal blue color of the spirits that they had become in this twilight, but confusion still tickled at his mind. How could they see them? He usually needed his wolf senses. Though his eyes trailed down to the undulating light of the Master Sword in his hand, and quickly figured that he didn’t need to voice his confusions. Soon, however, a warped voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Momma. I think it stopped. Whatever it was stopped!” Beth whispered. Sera shook her head in response. “No, Beth! The door! Something opened it, right? There must be something still in here with us!”

“It’s alright.” Time said calmly. “We’re here to help you. I promise we-”

“Where’s Dad? What happened to him?” Beth sobbed. “Is he-?”

“Hush now, sweetie.” Sera murmured, hugging her daughter close. “It’ll be okay. I’ve got you.”

The two of them clung to one another even tighter. Time looked to Twilight, confused. “What’s going on? They can’t hear me?”

“No,” Twilight sighed. “They’re only spirits right now. They can’t see anyone not affected by the twilight in the same way. So definitely not us.” 

Time nodded in understanding. “Do you recognize them?” Twilight looked away almost immediately. “We need to keep moving.” he muttered, pushing past his mentor. “We’re wasting time.” Twilight tried his best, but failed not looking back just in time to see Beth and Sera fade back into indistinct wisps as they fell out of the radius of the sword.

Reconvening with the others outside, Twilight looked around carefully at their surroundings as he addressed them. “We still have a lot left to find. Stay on your toes.”

Slowly, the group began to progress through the town. Time had his magnifying glass outstretched like a cartoonish detective. Wild, Sky, and Legend all had their bows ready, arrows already nocked. Wind, Warriors, Hyrule and Four had their swords drawn and their heads on a swivel, on the lookout for signs of Shadow Insects or any other beasts attempting to get closer to their sphere of protection. Glancing down at the Vessel on his hip, Twilight counted the three tears they had already found, with nine left to collect.

There was one with the bug that nearly zapped Warriors in the toe as it dashed from the edge of the small river to try to hide under the bridge. Twilight ushered the tear to him after a well placed arrow by Legend, with Time’s direction, pinned it to the old wood of the supports. Two more insects almost immediately scurried out from under the bridge, their lightning flashing brightly as their hiding place was disturbed, and took to the air. They gained another tear when Wind was able to slice off what turned out to be a wing of one as it flew too close, allowing him to finish it off quickly. However, the other quickly zipped away from them further into the village. 

Giving chase, they were brought to the old water wheel, which still sluggishly turned in the current. It was a well spotted direction from Four as he looked through the lens that found one of the insects, very well hidden within the crossing wooden beams. Everyone’s eyes turned to Wild as they all individually concluded the skill needed in order to make that shot. And Twilight’s count ticked up to six as his cub caught the bug dead center, embedding the shaft into the wall of the building behind it. Though he couldn’t help but feel bad for Jaggle. Arrow holes probably wouldn’t look very good on his house, and he’s probably going to be the one to fix it. That is assuming… no. Twilight stopped himself once more from following that train of thought.

Luckily, a distraction quickly presented itself to snap him out of it. Four suddenly gave a yelp of pain as a large, invisible, flying bug had found an opening to land on his shoulder and give the smith a surprisingly powerful jolt. The Four Sword clattered to the ground as he clutched his arm, shaking off his assailant. Warriors stepped forward with a cry, his sword thrusting forward blindly. Four ducked with a yell of indignation, hands coming up to cover his head from the haphazard swinging going on above him. “Get down!” Hyrule bellowed, his hands and blade glowing a vivid orange. Twilight felt the hot air blow against his face as three comets of fire hurled themselves from his sword, and while one definitely made purchase with an invisible creature above Four’s head, the smell of singed hair definitely began to radiate in the space as well. Warriors’ left eye twitched as he straightened up once more with scorch marks decorating his nose and brow. 

Eventually, Time was able to break up the fight that inevitably erupted between Warriors and Hyrule, and Four was able to brush off any concerns for his arm. At least, until he was able to snatch the Lens of Truth and stab an insect that was lurking within the small pumpkin patch on his own. Once he’d handed the item back to Time and the tear was collected, no one bothered him about it after that. 

They continued to circle around the village, squinting their eyes and straining their ears for anything. Hyrule did nearly get slashed in the foot when another bug pushed out of the ground below him and Wind noticed its dust cloud. But after a few apologies and reminders to Wind to ‘look before stabbing, dammit’, Twilight was able to collect the tear. But the luck that they had started with seemed to be waning. 

They had walked around the circumference of the small valley more than once, and appeared to be spotting fewer and fewer with each pass. The inability to split up was starting to get to a few of them, that much was clear. Grips on weapons were shifted anxiously. Eyes flitted back and forth. Curses were muttered more and more, with less and less care as to whether anyone heard or not. 

“I don’t see any.” Time whispered, sensing the tension growing “Do we need more, Twi?”

“Yeah. Three.” Twilight muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Are you sure you don’t see any more?” The older hero shook his head. 

“Is this the only place they could be? Just in this village? Maybe they’re in the woods somewhere.” A chorus of groans were let out at that prospect, as well as a few facepalms. But Twilight furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before realization dawning on his face. “Wait. I think I know of a place they might be.” He surged forward, beckoning the group to follow him down the path. “This way. Come on!” 

The party hurried through the village, to the southern end. Crossing the bridge, they made their way to a path leading up a hill behind the village proper. Twilight couldn’t help but glance up at the old wooden arch that still stood over the entrance, the faded words “Ordon Ranch” still legible, even after all this time.

As they crested the hill, a low roofed barn could be seen sitting at the top past the rickety gate. A flat, open field encompassed the ranch, with what looked like a few dozen small, teal, gently floating orbs milling about the plain. Twilight could have sworn that he heard Wild suck in a breath upon seeing this scene, but he wasn’t certain why. 

Time held up his glass to peer through, then looked over to Twilight with confusion. “Goats?” He asked, eyebrow raised. Twilight nodded. “Yup. Ordon goats. See anything else?” There were a few seconds of silence before Time’s response. “I think I saw a person. They just ran into that barn.” Quietly, he motioned for them to follow. They crept to the building, everyone on alert for any movement, before peeking around the corner of the door. Raising the Lens of Truth once more, Time did a quick scan before stopping while looking at the back left corner. 

“Two of them.” He whispered. “One on the wall below the crossbeam. And one on the floor by the last pen on the left.” Silently, without needing a signal, Wild and Legendcrept forward. The two took aim, glancing occasionally through the lens to line up their shots. Everyone held their breath as the two released their arrows. 

Two different sounds echoed around them. One was a satisfying squelch that they had come to recognize as a direct hit on these odd bugs. But the other was definitely that of an arrow hitting dirt. Wild’s arrow was buried in the wall, cleanly pinning the insect before it burst. Legend’s, however, was a few inches to the right, as evidenced by the angry lightning that was coming from their target. But before anyone could charge forward to try to attack the invisible foe, a hiss of an arrow cut them all off. A third shaft silenced the electrical discharge, leaving the bug curled on the ground before it surrendered its tear as well. Turning around revealed Sky, lowering his bow with a sheepish grin. 

As the group shared a laugh, Sky receiving a few congratulatory pats on the back, Twilight advanced into the barn further to collect the tears. But as he did, the remaining wisps of spirits began to take form. A few goats were in their pens, slowly chewing as though nothing had changed since the last time he’d seen them. But his attention was instead drawn to the cowering man in the corner. 

Fado hadn’t changed much. Perhaps he had a bit more facial hair than he’d last seen him, but his clothes were almost exactly the same. He was breathing quickly, panicked as he looked around him, unseeing. “H-h-hello?” He whispered, voice wavering. “I-is someone, uh, o-o-out there? P-please d-d-do- oh goddesses… please d-don’t kill m-me.” Twilight closed his eyes, a lump in his throat. There was nothing he could do right now. He knew that. So why was he feeling so… guilty?

Rejoining his companions as he wrestled yet again with his inner monologue, Twilight pulled out the vessel. Eleven gleaming blue orbs reflected up at them, giving hope that this leg of the journey may nearly be over. But one remained stubbornly clear. Glancing around them, Twilight looked once more to Time. “One last pass, you think?” Time frowned at the empty field before responding. “You think it’s out here? There’s not that many hiding places, you know.” 

“Yeah, I know. I know.” Twilight muttered. “I’m just running out of ideas here.”

“Uuuuuuughh,” Wind groaned behind them, repeatedly bumping his head against the barn wall. “This is sooooo tedious.”

“Get a grip, sailor.” Legend snapped. “It’s not like we can skip it or something.”

“Okay!” Time said loudly. “Let’s get this done before anyone gets maimed. Let’s go.” Motioning for them to follow him into the field, they began to comb the area. Oh. So. Slowly. Twilight heard a few colorful names being hissed under their breaths as the heroes pushed on. Wherever they walked, the goats nearby solidified once more into their regular forms. They seemed strangely unbothered by their current state, content to graze in the pasture. Wherever the group went, they would naturally meander away from them a bit, but not too far. Maybe it was because Twilight was looking at them to see these things that he noticed one goat that was standing a bit on its own. Particularly a flash of purple light that seemed to come from under it. 

“Hey, Time. Let me see it.” He whispered, stopping in his tracks with his hand outstretched. Wordlessly, Time passed the magnifying glass to the farmhand who then crouched low to the ground. Focusing the Lens’ gaze, Twilight fought back a sigh upon seeing their last insect clinging upside down to a large Ordon Goat. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” He grumbled.

Quietly, Twilight pointed out the bug to the group. Wild shook his head after peering through the lens. “There’s no way that’s a clean shot. I could try, but it’s invisible, has cover, and could just crawl to the other side of it without me knowing right away. It’s more likely that I’ll just kill the goat and then we might lose it.”

“Or the goat just gets pissed.” Twilight mused. “They’re pretty hearty, and you might just get charged if you anger it.”

“Wait,” Legend interjected. “Aren’t they spirits? Do they even have… you know, mass?” Twilight chuckled. “Oh they definitely do. Castle Town was pretty hard to maneuver when no one could see me. I couldn’t tell you how many people bumped into me and freaked out.”

“So what do we do?” Hyrule asked. “Do we trap it or something?” Twilight thought for a moment. “I mean, if someone grabs it by the horns to stop it, we might be able to get the bug off of it. It’s a bit tricky for me to do it one handed, so someone else will have to.” Wind looked at him confused. “I mean… why not just put the sword away?” Twilight grimaced at the thought. “I don’t think I want to take that chance, Wind. I have no idea how this works, or whether it will still protect us when I’m not holding it.” He shook his head. “I’m not about to take that chance.”

Hyrule stepped forward, readjusting his Power Bracelet. “I can do it. It shouldn’t be too much trouble.” But Twilight stopped him before he could get closer to the animal. “You have to be careful, ‘Rule. You need to grab it right, otherwise you might just end up hurting the goat. Or yourself for that matter.” He pulled Hyrule to the side. “No, you have to grab it at the thickest part of the horn, otherwise it might break from the force, and it’ll just barrel into you. Plant your feet, and keep it from pushing you back too far, or you’ll lose your balance.”

“Plant my- wait what?”

Twilight beckoned them forward to the goat. “I need you guys to herd it toward Hyrule. And one of you needs to scare it or something so it’ll run in the right direction.” Wild perked up at these words. “Oh I can do that.” He grinned, moving to creep behind the goat. Twilight turned to the rest of them. “Okay. I just need you guys to keep it from going in a different direction. And be ready if that bug bails and tries to fly away.” Time nodded, one hand on his sword, the other holding the Lens out once more. “I’ve got it, Pup.” 

“Wait a minute, Twi! What am I even doing?” Hyrule interjected. “Why is it running at me?! Why can’t I just hold it still?” Twilight put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. “Don’t worry. We just need to make sure that the goat doesn’t move unpredictably. If it’s in a charge, it’ll go that same direction without fail. But if you just walk up to it and try to wrestle it, because it will wrestle you, it could go anywhere and give the insect a chance to get away. What you need to do is to stop it in its tracks and push it on its side to give us an opening. Can you do that?” Hyrule hesitated for a moment, now fully realizing what job he had signed himself up for, then let out an exasperated sigh as a small smile found its way onto his face. “I can give it my best shot, Twilight. But I will go on the record saying that this still seems like a bad idea.” And with that, the traveler crept away to position himself in front of the oblivious goat.

Chuckling, Twilight crouched down himself, moving to his own position toward the middle to make sure everyone had plenty of room between them and the edge of the barrier. Looking around, he spotted Hyrule in front of the creature, nervously eyeing it up and down before taking a breath and readying himself. Seeing everyone in their places, he caught Wild’s eye and gave a nod. His protégé moved up behind the creature and gave it a sharp slap on the hindquarters, causing the goat to give a squeal of fear. 

Hyrule’s bracelets flared with energy as his hands made contact with the beast’s horns. He skidded back a few feet from the impact, grunting as its head slammed into his chest, before throwing his own enhanced strength against it and skidding to a stop. Hyrule let out a shout from the exertion before yanking the goat to the ground onto its side. Victory cries soon followed, but Twilight dashed forward, knowing the job wasn’t done yet. Purple lightning jolted off of the belly of the poor goat, quickly leaping up to meet Hyrule’s face. But before it could make any contact, the Master Sword sang in the air. Two perfectly cut halves of the Shadow Insect briefly solidified into existence before dissolving into nothing. 

Shouts of victory shot up from around them as the heroes clapped one another on the back and celebrated. The final tear hovered above Twilight’s palm for a moment before taking its place with the rest. Hyrule grunted as Wind jumped onto his back, whooping at their success. The two of them rolled on the ground in a wrestle before accidentally catching Twilight in the back of the knee. Landing hard on the two, Twilight couldn’t help but join in, swiftly catching Wind in a headlock. The three of them eventually ended in a pile, laughing and wincing as they grappled with one another. But all of them froze when they simultaneously noticed a growing light emanating from Twilight’s hip. Holding up the now filled Vessel of Light, they all began to hear a high pitched ringing sound coming from it as the plant seemed to curl up on itself. The light that had begun to glow was now slowly becoming an almost blinding source of light in its own right. 

“Guys!” Wind squealed, partly in Twilight’s ear as he was still on the older hero’s back. “Come look! Come look!” The others quickly crowded around as the three of them were able to finally disentangle themselves from each other. Everyone began talking at once, excited and confused. But Twilight absorbed none of it. He just was breathing a sigh of relief. They had done it. Time pulled him to his feet, a small smile on his face. “What do we do now, Twi? Do we bring this to Ordona?” Twilight nodded. “This should revive them and get rid of the twilight in this area.” The two of them looked back at the others, still absorbed in their animated discussions, and shared a small chuckle as they stood leaning against a fence in a comfortable silence. 

Perhaps that was why the hairs on the back of Twilight’s neck stood up before anyone else's. 

Glancing back at the entrance of the ranch, Twilight saw a lone figure scrambling up the path. A small creature that was clutching something in its hand. As it came closer, he was able to recognize the twilight-warped shape of a bokoblin. The object it held was out of his view, but he very quickly realized what it was upon its use. A wailing song blared over the boys’ voices as the bokoblin brought the Hawk Grass to its lips. Before it could fully lower the grass from its mouth, however, an arrow was lodged in its throat. 

Time lowered his bow as the creature fell to the ground with a gurgle, then replaced it with his Biggoron Sword. “Guys!” Twilight shouted to gain their attention. Swords and bows were drawn in response, and everyone began to spread out before remembering the barrier they were still confined to. Twilight searched the skies as the group waited. And waited. Legend leaned over to Twilight. “What did it do, Twilight? What are we waiting for?” But before he could respond, a trumpet-like cry broke the silence. 

Then two more. 

Then four. 

Twilight felt his heart leap into his throat seeing the grotesque forms of several Shadow Kargaroks silhouetted against the orange clouds. And he couldn’t help but feel as though every last one of them was staring at the glowing beacon of a plant that was hanging from his hip. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaand now I have to write a fight scene. Thanks a lot, Time.


End file.
